The JLA Club
by DragonGirl256
Summary: Clark finally leaves Smallville and heads out into a whole new setting: Metropolis University. He makes new friends, grows closer to old ones, and finds himself caught up in a whole new club! But what has he really gotten himself into?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Clark finally leaves Smallville and heads out into a whole new setting: Metropolis University. He makes new friends, grows closer to old ones, and finds himself caught up in a whole new club! But what has he really gotten himself into?

**Author's Note:** This is AU roughly Season 5. Clark didn't decide to go to CKU, but also didn't accept the football scholarship. He hasn't met Lois yet either. Pete still moved away and Lana decided to move back to Paris after the whole magic crazy boyfriend affair. Just as a note, I will probably treat Clana as a simple crush Clark has already gotten over. I am an avid, die-hard Clois fan, and intend to keep this fiction Clana drama free. She just irks me to no end! Also, I have adapted the ages of a lot of characters in this fiction, but as to who I'm going to include, you'll just have to wait and see. :) This is my first fanfiction, so please read and review away, all comments are welcomed.

**I do not own Smallville or DC Comics. But they are awesome.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Beginnings are so Cliche

His feet pounded on the tile as he sprinted towards his class. He was late. Everything that could go wrong had! His alarm clock refused to go off at the correct time, his shoes had miraculously been eaten by a dog that didn't exist, and he was pretty sure that last time he checked, his roommate did not have a girlfriend, so why the heck was there a woman in his bathroom! No matter, he was almost to his class.

He skidded to a halt as he reached the door, Taking a deep breath, he smoothed his hair down and grabbed the handle. It didn't budge. Seriously? Nothing? He tugged harder, but it was as if it was made of reinforced steel. It wouldn't move. This was getting weirder by the minute.

He ran his hand through my hair, trying to calmly come up with a solution to my problem. He whirled around, looking for another entrance. There, just to the right of the door was a little hall. He made a mental note that the room number was 176 and then quickly jogged around the corner. Eureka! There was another door to room 176. He tugged, hoping it would be nicer than its counterpart. Lucky him; it did.

There was a small hallway leading to the light of the actual classroom, so he quickly dashed forward. However as he soon entered the light, he realized his mistake. He froze, terrified by the sight before him. He was on a stage to the left of a teachers podium with a classroom of a thousand people staring at him. The room was dead silent, not even a cricket dared to make noise.

The professor cleared his throat, catching his attention. He turned his startled eyes to him instead. "And who might you be?"

"Clark." He squeaked out, laughter quickly following the catch in his voice. He coughed before trying again. "Clark Kent."

"Ah, and, Clark Kent, are you here to teach my class for me? Or are you trying to amuse us with your clownish charms?" He snickered at his expense. His students joined him, chuckles spreading throughout the crowd.

"Um, no sir." Clark said, confused. The laughter now picked up as the professor raised his eyebrow in doubt. When he saw Clark had no clue what he was talking about, he gestured downward.

Clark followed his lead, looking down. The first thing he noticed were the huge red shoes on my feet. He could have sworn he had put on the ratty torn up boots the invisible dog had eaten! Then instead of his usual jeans, he had on polka-dotted shorts. They were held up by red suspenders that stretched over his bare chest. To top it all off, it appeared as if some kid had drawn all over him in sharpie.

He was so confused! He turned to the professor, trying to come up with an apology. However, Clark noticed something on the folder in his hand. It read ENGL 1301. Great! He wasn't even in the right class for this. Their laughter picked up as he stammered out a weak stream of apologies.

"CLARK!"

He woke with a start, sitting up fully in his bed. Clark immediately started stammering apologies once more, only to be interrupted by an impatient snort. "Sheesh son. You'd think I caught you with a girl... Again." Jonathan chuckled as Clark's cheeks reddened. "Hurry up or you're gonna be late. Chloe wants to meet us for lunch in Metropolis after you move in. I don't think she'll appreciate your tardiness." With that, his dad left.

Clark finally registered his surroundings then, taking in the barren bedroom. Most of his stuff had already been packed up and put in the truck. It had left his room looking empty and a little lonely.

He shook my head as he remembered his dream. Of course Clark would have every stereotypical dream embarrassment happen all in one dream. He still have no clue where the chick came from though...

Clark yawned, stretching himself to wake out of his stupor. He really did need to get going, Chloe had given him a very specific time to meet, and he wasn't about to be late. She can be very scary when you cross her. With that thought, he supersped into his clothes and downstairs for breakfast.

* * *

They pulled up to my Metropolis University dorm a few hours later, having fought through the crazed crowd of freshmen and their parents to do so. Clark jumped out quickly, stretching his legs in the sun. Martha got out, smiling in reassurance, sensing his unspoken anxiety. He huffed, returning a nervous smile before walking briskly into the dorm.

As Clark approached the registration desk, he felt someone bump into him. He turned catching the guy before he fell on his butt. Clark looked down realizing he had caught the arm of a short, brown headed boy. He smiled mischievously, his green eyes dancing with laughter, saying "Gracias, mi amigo!" Clark smiled in response. The boy smirked, a plot obviously brewing in his mind as he opened his mouth to say "Hey-"

"BART!" A tall man with purple hair came barreling down the hall at that moment. His skin was tinted purple and he wore only a bathrobe around his waist. He had obviously just come from the showers.

"I'm going to kill you, you little twerp!" He screamed, blazing a path through the crowd. He was too late though, Bart had already disappeared, probably valuing his life over whatever plot he had been concocting about Clark.

The man stopped in front of Clark, gazing at where Bart used to be. "Where'd the twerp go, ya know, the one you were standing next to? He's short, arrogant, and stupid." Clark just blinked, feigning innocence. After a second scrutinizing Clark, the boy gave up. "Well, if you see him again, tell him Tyler, his roommate, is looking for him." With that he turned back toward where he came.

Clark shrugged off the encounter and quickly got his room key and ID. Then he and his parents moved all the boxes upstairs to his dorm room, leaving them in a nice pile in the corner. It appeared as if his roommate had been there, but he saw no sign of him as he followed his parents back outside.

When he got back, the time to say goodbye had come."Bye Mom, Bye Dad! I'll miss y'all!" He quickly pulled his mom into a tight hug.

"Goodbye Sweety. Make sure to wash your clothes, and brush your teeth, and take showers, and study, and change your under-"

"Mom!" Clark quickly interrupted.

"I'm just kidding sweetheart. Just take care, have fun and come home every once and a while." She smiled as she hugged him a little tighter.

After a minute he let go. Then he turned to his dad. "Now son, I want you to know that we will always be here for you. Just give us a call and keep in touch. And like your mom said, come visit! It's not like it takes you that long to make it home anyway. And stay out of trouble, I don't want a call from Chloe saying you were doing stupid things in college." He pulled Clark into his embrace. "You're gonna do great son, I know it." Jonathan patted him heartily on the back, saying silently, "Stay strong."

"Thank you Dad." Clark whispered, thankful for the hug.

He waved as they pulled out of the parking lot and sped away.

With one last deep breath, Clark turned around, taking his first steps into his new college life.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I forgot to put this on the last chapter, but the Oliver Queen back story that I'm going to be using is going to be more like the Arrow back story instead of Smallville. They did a really good job with his story and character development.

So now once again **I do not own Smallville, DC Comics, or Arrow.**

* * *

Chapter 2: First Impressions

Clark weaved his way through the crowd around the registration desk. They really had chosen the worst spot possible to set up. When he was free, he headed up to his room, ignoring the multiple groups that tried to catch his attention. Most of them were fraternity and sports clubs looking for new meat, so avoiding them would be a good way to keep the low profile he needed.

As he opened the door to his room, he heard a quick SWOOSH. He looked up quickly, instinctively moving his head out of the way as a dart went right passed his ear. It hit the door across the hall with a loud THUNK.

Eyes wide he looked at the man who had thrown the dart, who he assumed was his roommate. He was a built man with short blond hair and a shadow of a beard. His hands were rough, hardened by the elements. He stood in a stance that clearly showed he was ready for a fight. But what stood out the most was his eyes. They were lit with awareness, quickly measuring Clark with their gaze. They were calculating, a plan of action being created within them from the measurements they were making. Yet on top of all that, they were hurting. The man's pain was shown clearly in his eyes; anxiety and caution was his life.

However, that gaze was only visible for a second. The man blinked, creating a mask of apology and innocence. If Clark wasn't as fast as he was, he wouldn't have caught it.

"Sorry man! I missed the dartboard." The man said gesturing to the dartboard beside the door.

"It's fine." With that Clark walked across the hall and pulled out the green dart. He shook his head a little at the close call. If that had hit him, his roommate would have known something was up. He wasn't sure how good an impression it would have made if he had destroyed the dart by just standing still.

"Here you go... uh" Clark paused, realizing he hadn't ever looked up the name of his roommate.

"Oliver," he said taking the dart from Clark. "Oliver Queen. You must be my roommate... Chris?"

Clark rolled his eyes, "Clark Kent." He reached out his hand.

Oliver eyed Clark's hand suspiciously before shaking. "Well that sure wasn't the best first impression I could have made, I really need to work on my aim." He grimaced, gesturing to the darts scattered around the wall.

Clark scanned the wall, noticing that the darts may not have hit the dartboard, but they did hit extremely small targets such as eyes on posters, and spots on the grain of the wood door. It seemed as if he WAS working on his aim.

Clark laughed, opting not to question the man. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to take someone's eye out on accident."

With that he started toward his pile of boxes in the corner. He worked for a good hour unpacking his clothes, books, and knickknacks. At 11:35 he got a text from Chloe:

Clark, hurry your butt up! I don't have all day!

He started, realizing he was already 5 minutes late to lunch. Chloe was going to kill him.

Sorry, I'm heading that way. I got caught up unpacking my stuff. I'll be there in like 10 minutes.

Clark grabbed his wallet and rushed out of the room, leaving a very curious Oliver behind.

When Clark arrived, Chloe was sitting calmly, sipping a cup of coffee. "Sorry I'm late." He smiled pulling back the metal chair to sit down.

Chloe chuckled. "Well you'd think that as fast as you are, you'd be better at being on time."Clark just rolled his eyes. "Anyway, my cousin couldn't make it. She's too busy yelling at the general that she doesn't need an entourage." At Clark's questioning look she said, "The general, you know, Uncle Sam."

"Oh, yeah, you told me about him. Well that sounds exciting."

Chloe just shook her head. "So how's your roommate?"

"Oh he's fine. His name is Oliver Queen and-"

"WHAAAAT! You're roommates with Oliver freaking Queen?" Her eyebrows had shot straight into her hair.

"Um, yeah. Anyway-"

"No, don't tell me you haven't heard of him!" When Clark shook his head, she continued, "Oliver is the son of Robert Moira Queen. When he was 16, 5 1/2 years ago, he and his dad went on a boot trip, and he was shipwrecked on a deserted island. He was the only survivor on the ship. They said that his mom is forcing him to go college so that he can get a degree and reintegrate back into society at the same time. But come on, you're roommates with a billionaire! That's so cool!" She began jumping up and down excitedly, "Can I meet him? Can I, Can I, Can I?"

Clark rolled his eyes. "Maybe later, I should probably get to know him before I dump my eager friends on him."

"Humph, course he'd say that; he's not excited. Why does all the good stuff happen to him?" Chloe's voice came out as a mumble.

"Chloe, I can hear you... Superhearing, remember?" She sat up straighter, the look of a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar on her face. He chuckled, then waved down the waiter to take their order.

"Stupid cheating alien." She muttered.

"I heard that."

"Crap."

* * *

Oliver watched his new roommate leave. It was weird. Clark hadn't even acknowledged the fact that he was THE Oliver Queen. It was kinda nice.

However something didn't sit right with him about Clark. He was tall, taller than him, with dark black hair. He was also very built, especially for a college kid. Yeah, he was built too, but he had a reason. Clark just seemed like a normal guy. Well with really fast reflexes.

Oliver had acted on instinct when the door opened, throwing the dart directly for the eye. However, it missed Clark by a fraction of an inch. Oliver didn't miss, ever. Well, at least it didn't hit him. It would have been hard to explain why the guy didn't have an eye after just meeting him. Man, he was really gonna have to calm down if he was gonna make it in public. Too many years fighting for his live on an island sure leaves you antsy.

Clark seemed normal enough, but Oliver wasn't taking any chances. Getting up from his bed, he started snooping. Clark's closet was full of flannel shirts, t-shirts, and jeans. They were all red and blue. Clark sure had a thing for primary colors, not that he should be talking. Most of his clothes were green. In the back of Clark's closet he noticed one lone suit, a nice black button up shirt, and a pair of black slacks. They seemed out of place with the rest of his clothes. Hidden behind even these clothes was a Smallville football jersey. It seemed an odd place to put it since most jocks relished in their golden days. However it was in the back, forgotten. Almost as it shouldn't be there. Maybe he was thinking too much into it. It was probably just the first thing Clark unpacked so it was in the back.

Shaking his head he shut the closet and turned to the guys bookshelf. He had a wide variety of books. He had your typical fiction books first, followed by what looked like graduate level astronomy books. He had everything from constellations to astrophysics. Next to them were a couple books on extraterrestrial life. Weird. The final set of books looked the most used. They were about ancient writings and ruins. They appeared to be the newest books, but many had torn pages and creased corners. There were many papers sticking out of them, as if Clark had added his own notes to the books.

This just confused Oliver further. Clark was apparently the stereotypical farm boy with a thing for primary colors and flannel, but he was also a super smart nerd with a fascination with aliens and a hobby of translating ruins. To reiterate: weird.

With one last chance to figure Clark out, Oliver turned to his desk. There were multiple pictures of his family. One picture was him and a short blond girl, probably this "Chloe," and an African American boy, all the same age smiling in front of a yellow house. There weren't any sports pictures of him playing football. Frowning, he pulled open the drawer and saw a lead box, a baseball, and a journal from Virgil Swan. He picked up the lead box and opened it carefully. Inside was a green rock. Yet another hobby, rock collecting. He sighed, adding family man and scientific geek to the list.

Oliver sighed, not sure with what to do with this information. You can't judge a person by what they own. Plus what he owned made Clark look like a nutcase. Moving on he pulled out his computer. It wouldn't hurt to do a quick background check just to make sure.

He pulled up everything he could find on Clark. He started with newspaper clippings, some from the Dailey Planet, but most from the local school newspaper called the torch. Then he went through the police records in Smallville as well. It sure was good he was a billionaire.

The first thing he found out was he was apparently the star quarterback for the Smallville Crows. That explains the jersey, but not the lack of pictures, trophies, medals, and a football. Maybe he had given up his dream, and thrown out anything to do with it as well.

The rest of he found was either good or bad, depending on how you interpret it. Smallville was apparently plagued by metahumans and strange natural disasters all the time. Guess it would have to since it was the meteor capital of the world. Yet stranger still was Clark's involvement in almost every incident. He was usually on the scene, saving someone, or was attacked by something. He was in tons of police reports as a witness. He even dated a metahuman accused of killing someone (though later she was proven innocent). This just kept getting weirder! Either this man was a criminal mastermind, or he had a serious hero complex.

Sighing, he closed his laptop and laid down. With a roommate this confusing, it was going to be a long semester.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Running Gag

Bart sprinted down the hall, just above normal human speed. He only needed to outrun his pursuer. Running was his name and pranking was his game. That was his motto, but now it was really getting him in trouble. Thanks to his less than appreciative roommate, he was now the center of attention to everyone in the hall. This meant no super boost. He was just gonna have to make due with the slow lane until he could get out of this mess.

It had all started this morning, when he had met his roommate, Tyler. He showed up early, making sure to unpack everything in lightning speed so he wouldn't have to do it later. He hated living in the slow lane. Well a couple seconds later and all his cool souvenirs were placed strategically around the room. Perfect. With that he laid down to have a nice long -

Bang! The door flew open, revealing a red-headed prick. He was laughing boisterously, gesturing wildly to his room as a group of girls sighed in contentment. Gross. To top it off, a group of nerdy boys filed in after him, carrying his matching suitcase set.

The guy carried on and on, not even noticing that his roommate was glaring at him across the room.

Bart was fed up. This guy was flirting with chickas, using poor nerds as slaves, and completely IGNORING him. Well, he'll show this prick. Bart's mouth curled into a sneer. He waited until the nerds were safely out of the room. When they were he whizzed across the room and pulled down his pants, making sure to grab his wallet for good measure, all before the human eye could blink.

Tyler was so confused! How in the world had his pants ended up on the floor? The girls snickered quietly, trying to hold it in until they could no longer. They started clutching their sides as they laughed mercilessly in his face before leaving, their laughter trailing behind them. The nerds left as well, holding in silent chuckles as they scurried from his glare. "Come back guys!" He said, hurriedly pulling up his fallen shorts.

Bart chuckled silently, laying on his bed. Served the guy right; he was so rude. The guy turned, glaring suspiciously at the guilty party. Too bad he couldn't prove it.

"Too bad mi amigo, they were mighty fine!" Bart goaded him.

Tyler's nostrils flared in anger. "Who are you!?"

"Dude, chill! I'm your roommate and unfortunate audience to your less fortunate moment." Bart went back to laying on his bed, his eyes once more on the ceiling.

"No _dude,_ I mean what's your name?" Tyler said hotly, his anger getting ready to explode.

"Apparently I must be the civil one," Bart said at just the right volume for Tyler to hear. Then he sat up, facing the red faced, open-mouthed prick and said "Bart Allen, world traveler and burrito lover." He smirked at the end, clearly daring him to call out his rude comment.

Tyler splutter before giving up. "I'm Tyler Roland." He said simply before turning away. "Hey, where the heck did those geeks go! They were supposed to unpack my stuff!"

"I don't know, mi amigo. Maybe you should just sit and wait and see if they come back. I'm sure those chickas would have appreciated another look at your boxers." Bart said absentmindedly.

Tyler whirled around, his eyes narrowing to slits. "You know what, I don't have time for this. I'm taking a shower." With that, he left.

Bart, being the prankster he was, couldn't resist. He had a few packs of food coloring and Kool-Aid from the last prank, and so he swiftly picked them up and sprinted to the bathroom. Thankfully Tyler was the only one in there and with a burst of speed, he died the shampoo purple and had turned the water into grape Kool-Aid. For good measure he also took his clothes, and then waited patiently outside the door to see his handiwork.

Well to say Tyler was mad was an understatement. He looked like an unholy demon. Smoke spouted from his ears and his face reddened underneath the purple, giving the allusion that he was an other worldly alien.

Bart snickered, attempting to cover his voice before Tyler noticed. However, it was too late. In his rage, Tyler's senses had been heightened, so he immediately spotted Bart. "You little twerp!" He said charging forward.

That had led to the first of Bart's mad dashes of the day. He ran straight for the only place he could use to lose him, the registration area. He was hauling butt down the hall when WHAM! he ran straight into a brick, no wait, STEEL wall. The wall caught him before he landed, picking him up quickly.

As Bart looked up, he saw a dark haired, _tall_ man with a confused look on his face. "Gracias, mi amigo!"

The guy smiled. He looked like he had just gotten off the farm and, from the very solid stance he took, he was definitely a heavy hitter. Hmm. Perhaps he could use him as a decoy. Tyler would definitely not get along with him. This guy looked like a stud anyway. Maybe he could use him to pick up girls. After all, girls flock to the tall, dark and handsome routine, so he could pick up the leftovers, the ones heartbroken they weren't this guy's type. Yeah, that could work, definitely.

"Hey-"

"BART!" Tyler chose then to come barreling through the crowd. Valuing his skin more than his life, Bart had run for the hills.

He spent the rest of his afternoon goofing off from one place to the next, moving on after the first group or place became boring. At about 12, he ran down to Mexico to get him a well deserved burrito.

He soon grew tired and decided that now was a good time to explore his new dorm. There had to be some hidden passageways or something within the complex. So he headed up to the top floor to try and find something. And something he did. The top floor of the building was blocked off from student usage. They had their own set of stairs that were placed behind locked doors. You couldn't even take the elevator up there because it required a key as well! Interesting.

What sounded like a tripping mule interrupted his plotting. Bart turned, ready for whatever it was behind him. It was Tyler, his hair still purple, and some burly jock.

"Bart! I am going to kill you! I know you have my wallet! I can't find it anywhere!" Tyler yelled, advancing menacingly before him.

Bart silently cursed. He couldn't just disappear. He backed away, trying to reach the corner before Tyler. No luck, Tyler picked up his pace, obviously not ready to let Bart get away again. Luck was on Bart's side though, he was right by the staircase to go down. With one last glance at the oafs, he took off sprinting down the stairs and onto the second floor.

Now he was once again running, the motto of his life having thoroughly gotten him in trouble for the day.

He didn't get far down the hall before, BAM! He hit the stupid steel wall again. It was the same guy as last time, jiggling his key in the lock of his door. One hand was once again on his arm as the other pushed the door open.

"Amigo, we have got to stop meeting like this!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Hanging Around

Clark started when he got hit once again by the quick footed kid. He caught him, not letting him touch the floor as he continued to open the door.

"Amigo, we have got to stop meeting like this!"

Clark laughed, setting the kid upright. "Yeah, maybe you should watch where you're running."

The kid rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to retort when he paused, peeking around Clark. His face seemed wary.

Clark followed his gaze, and heard the subtle sound of a ox barreling down the stairs. "Let me guess, Tyler?" Clark asked. When the kid nodded, he held the door open for him to go in.

"Gracias, mi amigo. I could really use a place to hide." He slipped quickly inside, pulling Clark in after him, and slammed the door right as Tyler reached the second floor.

"Who's that?" Oliver sat up in his bed, gazing curiously at the small kid Clark had brought with him.

"Just the kid running for his life from a bull of a roommate." the kid answered cheekily. At Oliver's risen brow he amended, "I'm Bart. Bart Allen. I just keep running into this guy and he decided to help me this go around." He gestured to Clark with his thumb.

"Well, I'm happy to be of help. Tyler seems like the kind of jerk that takes no prisoners, though I have to admit I wouldn't like being turned purple." Clark chuckled when Bart blushed bright red with chagrin. "I'm Clark by the way. Clark Kent." He held out his hand in welcome.

"Well it's nice to officially meet you. And this serious monkey is...?" Bart said, turning his attention to the quieter of the two.

"Oliver Queen," He replied bluntly, quickly losing interest in the kid.

"Dude! You're a billionaire! It must be nice to get all that stuff. Bet you can get all the chickas you want! Man, Y'all are lucky. Oliver plays the billionaire card and Clark just plays up his 'tall, dark and handsome' routine. I bet girls drool all over y'all!" Bart paced excitedly around the room at the news.

Clark blushed crimson at his comment, attempting to ignore it. Oliver laughed at Clark, amazed at the shade of red the simple comment had provoked. He was adding gullible, naive, and humble to the list.

"Maybe they do, maybe they don't. That's for me to know and you to figure out." Oliver refocused his eyes on the ceiling, baiting Bart with his 'I really could care less' attitude. To his amusement, it worked.

Bart turned his mischievous eyes to Ollie, the glint from earlier returning. "Si, mi amigo. I will find out. _And then I'll use you and naive wonderboy over here to pick up the brokenhearted ones all for myself! There's plenty of Bart to go around ladies! I promise."_ Bart muttered the last part to himself at a level that no human could hear.

Oliver didn't hear the last little bit of his speech, so he had no clue why Clark now appeared purple instead of red. Clark, on the other hand, had heard it all and his already crimson face burned even brighter as his face simultaneously turned blue from shock. The result was the strange purple color Oliver observed.

Oliver opened his mouth the ask Clark what was wrong, but Clark beat him to the punch. "So Bart, what major are you here to study?" It was a lame topic change, but he had nothing else.

Clark's question ripped Bart out of his blissful daydreams. "What, oh umm... I'm here to study forensics. I really like chemistry and hope I can be part of the police force. What about you Clark?"

"Oh, I'm studying journalism. My friend convinced me to give it a try and I did enjoy writing for our high school paper. I don't know. I hope it works out." Clark ran his hand nervously through his hair, thinking about all the ways it could go wrong. Drop out due to lack of money, Jor-El demands he starts training and kidnaps him, attacked by metahuman bent on revenge with kryptonite, aliens attack Earth and destroying the University, etc.

Bart harrumphed at his less than confident answer. "And what about you string bean?" He turned his questioning glare to Oliver.

"Huh, I think you're more of a string bean than I am... Anyway I'm studying business."

Bart opened his mouth for what was probably some smart remark when someone knocked. He darted under the bed at lightning speeds as Clark walked curiously to open the door.

"Um hey. Do any of you have a cable for-" The guy started on the other side of the door, only to stop at the sight of Clark. "Clark Kent? Is that you?"

Clark gazed down at his African American football rival and grinned. "In the flesh. What brings you to Met U Victor?" He ushered him in, not wanting him to feel awkward standing at the door.

Victor chuckled. "Well... I actually I gave up my football scholarship that I had and opted for getting a computer engineering degree here at Metropolis. But what about you? You playing for the sharks? I bet they were dying to get a hold of your golden arm."

Clark didn't miss the melancholy stare he knew so well in Victor's eyes. The one that was lamenting being different. But why? Why did Victor feel that way? Shaking his head of his suspicions he answered, "Well, I turned them down. I just decided that my life wasn't just about football and I couldn't pretend to be someone I'm not forever. But how are you holding up, after being kidnapped I mean. I was shocked when they declared you dead, but more so when you turned up again in a couple of months! We were all glad you are alright."

"I know, I mean-"

"WHAAAT!" Bart chose that exact time to make his presence known.

Victor reeled backwards from his sudden appearance, knocking into Clark who was now behind him. His arm, reinforced with bioenhancements, hit the man squarely in the chest. Victor whirled, ready to apologize profusely for hurting Clark when he realized the guy hadn't moved. In fact, his elbow was the one that hurt, and Clark didn't seem fazed at all.

Clark looked down quizzically, silently wondering why Victor was staring at him like some sort of alien anomaly. Well... he silently chuckled... he wouldn't be that far off.

Bart was still ranting about something, waving his hands wildly in the air when Victor finally shook off his shock. Without thinking Victor said, "Does he ever stop?"

With a condescending snort Oliver replied, "Nope, not really. I don't think he ever gets tired." He had to duck then as Bart threw a well aimed book at him. When the book flew out the open window and landed in the tree outside, everyone burst out laughing.

"What the, why is the freaking window open!" Bart yelled in frustration.

"Well, now we can see if you can use those monkey genes of yours and retrieve Clark's book." Oliver gestured encouragingly towards the window.

Muttering darkly he climbed outside, cursing his own misfortune.

"And with it out of the way, I'm Oliver Queen, and it was unfortunately Bart Allen. What you missed of his rant was how he now had three wingmen because you can use your sad sappy kidnapping story to attract the ladies. Apparently he is still gung-ho on the idea that he can pick up girls on the rebound from us."

Victor raised his eyebrow at that. "Well it's nice to meet you and... umm, Bart..."

Clark chuckled. "Well have you met your roommate yet?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He's a marine biologist and LOVES the water. He has it everywhere and goes swimming 24-7. I wouldn't mind except the fact that I have a LOT of hardware. But the stupid fishstick won't listen to me when I warn him about getting water on my stuff!..."

He continued to rant as Clark and Oliver watched in amusement. Both were thinking along the same lines, "At least I'm not gonna have a problem with my roommate."

"...Anyway, that brings me to my reason for being here. Do either of you have a HDMI cable. I mean just so I can borrow it until I get a new one. I still can't believe he managed to ruin mine. And this is only the first day!"

"Nope, sorry. I don't have one. Do you Clark?" Oliver answered.

Clark shook his head as well.

"Well too bad. Anyway, I'll catch y'all around. And you might wanna help your friend out there, it looks like he slipped." With one last wave, Victor left.

Clark rushed to the window, peering out at the scene before him. Bart had indeed slipped. And was now hanging by his hoodie from a branch. His pants had been snagged as well on the way down, and were now hanging on the set of branches above him. Thankfully his boxers were still intact. On the plus side, he had managed to grab the book.

Oliver peaked over Clark's shoulder, busting his gut at the sight before him. "That is soooo beautiful!"  
He cackled.

Bart crossed his arms, attempting to show his last strands of dignity by glaring at Oliver. This only made him laugh more as he looked more like a angry wet cat than anything dignified.

Clark chuckled before taking pity on the boy and climbing out the window. "Just keep hanging on el gato."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: **Thanks so much for y'all support guys! I'm really glad y'all are enjoying this. This chapter's an introduction to what's gonna become one of the main hangouts for the club. It's also my own introduction of an original character I created to help the league stay focused. A superhero shrink if I may. But you'll find out more about her later.

* * *

Chapter 5: Search for Sanctuary

For as exciting the first day in the dorms was, Clark really didn't see anything crazy for the rest of the week. He and Oliver had talked a few times about random stuff and had grown fond of each other. They were fast friends. Bart made sure to pop up at the most inopportune times with hairbrained schemes Clark and Oliver had learned to say no to immediately. After their last encounter with a rampaging bull (don't ask), they chose to steer clear of Bart's "ingenious plans". Chloe hadn't had a chance to stop by and bug him yet because she was too busy "watching her cousin to keep her out of trouble". The general had evidently handed that torch to his less than excited niece.

With Chloe preoccupied with the infamous " cousin" (he still hadn't met her and wasn't sure he wanted to so he refused to acknowledge her name in hopes he would never have to), Clark had opted to explore the campus thoroughly.

As he walked through fair after fair, he had come across many interesting clubs. However, none of them sounded appealing to him. There were religious clubs, fencing clubs, chess clubs, community service clubs, ethnic clubs, kite flying clubs, and even a bear wrestling club. He decidedly walked passed them all, making no eye contact. He had learned a long time ago, if you act like you know what you're doing, people leave you alone. Clark finally found a club that peaked his interest by the observatory: an astronomy club.

He took their flyer and gave it a quick read and it sounded like just a star-gazing group. However, he gave the actual members a quick look over and was disappointed. There were a couple that looked like true astronomers interested in gazing at the stars and marking movements, but the majority of their club were avid alien fanatics. They were currently having a huge debate over the possibility of aliens arriving in a meteor shower.

That was all it took for Clark to turn tail and flee.

Later that week he found all of his classes, making sure he knew exactly where they were at. He did not want a recreation of his dream. However with that done, he had nothing to do. Period. He looked at the school map one more time, sighing in defeat. Then he saw the one last glint of hope on the page. A coffee shop. It was between his dorm and Chloe's. How had he missed it! He turned around, hoping that this coffee shop might serve as a place he could finally relax at this huge university.

As Clark walked up to the shop, he realized why he had missed it. It was a tiny little coffee house towards the back of the courtyard between dorms, hidden by the many trees adorning the area. It was a little off the beaten path, but that's just what he wanted. He walked up, taking in the look of the shop. It was a little blue building with white accents. It had flowers and plants adorning its fronts, giving it a earthy home feel. A sign hung above the doorway, saying Blue House Cafe. Not exactly original, but none the less fitting. He walked up and pulled open the screen door.

The inside was even more homey. The soft blue walls accented the beautiful wood floors perfectly. The walls were covered in multiple abstract paintings of nature. There were wooden tables and chairs, giving it a rustic family cafe feel. There were only a couple of students there, quietly studying in comfort.

There was a bar at the back near the kitchen were a tall, brown-headed girl was making coffee. He walked up, sitting at one of the stools as he looked over the menu. They had all sorts of coffee at this shop, as well as some comfort foods and smoothies.

The girl turned around then, pausing slightly at the quiet arrival of Clark. "I'll be back in a sec," she called after her as she continued to one of the students by the window.

Clark got a better look at her when she returned. She was tall, maybe just a couple inches shorter than him. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that stretched down her back. She had blue streaks in her bangs and a blue strand in her hair. Her green eyes narrowed slightly as she took in his appearance.

"One guess. Farm boy turned journalist."

"Wha? Umm.. I mean, how'd you know?" Clark was flabbergasted by her statement.

She chuckled at his confusion. "Well plaid, long sleeve shirt plus jeans = either farmer or rancher. Since this is Kansas, most likely farmer. And then your schedule has a journalism class that is bolded to indicate it coincides with your intended major. I get bored around here, so I've been working on my people reading skills."

"Well I'd say you are showing results." He chucked, "I'm Clark Kent by the way. And you are right, I'm a farmer hopefully turning journalist. What about you? City girl turned waitress?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "You'd be wrong there. I'm a rancher's daughter and I hope I'm not a waitress forever. I want to be a math teacher. I'm Rosy Williams... And what do you mean hopefully?! You need to be absolutely convinced it's gonna happen or it never will! Always give 110%." Rosy ended her rant by poking Clark in the chest.

Clark's eyebrows raised, suddenly wary at the sudden change in her demeanor. Something told him Rosy was a force to be reckoned with. "Um.. OK, " he managed to squeak.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Then a smile broke across her face. "Good! Now that we understand each other, what would you like to order?" When Clark asked for her suggestion she paused, placing her fingers to her temples and focused. She stayed like that, deep in thought before opening her eyes. "I don't know, everything! It's sooooo good!"

He chuckled, amused by her comedic gesture. "Well for now-"

At that moment Bart came bursting through the door, dragging a very disgruntled looking Oliver after him. "Dude! I found you, I've got this great idea that this time I'm sure you'll looov, oh!" He stopped, catching sight of Rosy across the counter. He let go of Oliver's arm and ran over, a sly smile adorning his face. "Hola, mi amor. I must have died if I'm seeing you."

Rosy raised a brow, clearly amused. "Well, I must have gotten off at the wrong bus stop if you're here. I gotta go get back to heaven." She walked off then, leaving Bart caching flies and the boys clutching their sides.

"Shut up guys!" Bart crossed his arms. The wet cat face was back, only this time it was bright red as well.

Rosy returned then, curiously taking in Bart's face. "Well if that doesn't look like an orange tabby that got dragged through the rapids of a river, I don't know what does." She smirked, moving the coffee cups she had retrieved into the sink.

Bart turned purple then, as he shrunk quite a few sizes.

Clark finally slowed his laughter enough to make introductions. "Rosy, meet Oliver Queen and Bart Allen. Guys, meet Rosy Williams." He gestured to each in turn.

They all said hello before Bart finally got back to explaining his scheme.

"I was thinking we should go work out at the gym today, you, me, and green bean. We could do some bro bonding, _and I could get a sane chick_, and have some fun! Come on guys, are y'all in?" He slowly regained his enthusiasm as he explained his plan.

Clark choked back the laughter at Bart's real motives. "Umm-"

"Come on Clark! Y'all always say no! Please... please, please, please!" Bart begged.

Clark and Oliver looked at each other, knowing that this time they couldn't escape. He would just find them later. Both sighing in resignation they hung their heads in defeat.

"Ok, just this once-" Oliver started.

"Yes!" Bart said jumping up in the air. And with that they left the little blue coffee shop behind.

Rosy watched them leave thinking, "What a strange bunch."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** I had a few questions from Coolrod in his review I would like to answer. I couldn't message you back directly, so I'm putting it here. I am going to be including Bruce Wayne in this fanfic, I mean what's Oliver gonna do without a little competition? And I do plan on using Felicity as well, she's one of my favorite characters on Arrow :) Also, never fear, Lois Lane is very near. I'm trying to lure Clark into a false sense of security before sticking the feisty brunette in his life. However, their inevitable meeting is coming... soon... That's all I'm gonna say for now. So onto Bart's master plan!

* * *

Chapter 6: The Jig is Up

Bart dragged them straight from the cafe to the gym locker room.

"Hey, don't we need to get work-out clothes? I mean I'm in jeans, boots, and a long-sleeve shirt. Not exactly the best clothes to sweat in." Clark complained. He really didn't need to change, but it would be harder to cover the fact he hadn't sweat in the heavier clothes.

Bart rolled his eyes holding up his backpack as if that explained everything. At their blank stares he pulled out clothes for each of them, throwing them in annoyance.

"Wait a minute... You went through our stuff to get this! How do you keep getting into our room?!" Oliver was exasperated as he looked through the clothes.

"What I want to know is where he found this white tanks. I know I don't own one." Clark said in confusion. Sure enough, Bart had grabbed them each a pair of shorts and tennis shoes as well as matching white tanks.

"Be glad I got those for y'all. I was seriously considering making y'all work out shirtless, but I figured Clark would run away faster than I could say adios." He rolled his eyes, pulling on his own workout stuff. He smirked to himself when they sighed and gave into his demands. His plan was working out perfectly.

Phase 1: get them to come lift with him. They would get really sweaty during this time. Chicks would flock to view said friends and Bart would have a wider range to flirt with. Guys would be too distracted actually working out to notice. Phase 2: If that didn't work, they would be hot and sweaty, so he would beg for them to go to the pool. This time, shirts are off. Girls once again come for the show and he flirts with said girls again. It was fool proof. This was going to go off much better than the Matador try-outs. This time he could only be chased by girls, no one else.

He would have suggested football, or basketball or racquetball, but he couldn't be dominated by the taller men. By being placed in direct comparison with them he would become an object of pity, not an option for a hormonal girl who had no chance with said wingmen.

They hurried off to the weight room then, Oliver heading to the benches and Clark to the weight machines. Bart busied himself on the treadmills, the perfect locale for monitoring any female watchers.

What Bart didn't take into account was the fact that the weight room was a secluded area where few females traveled unless they themselves were lifting. He realized this after about 30 minutes with no female watchers. With that epiphany, Bart was instantly bored. If he really wanted to run, he could go to Mexico, or South America, or Europe! He turned off the treadmill in frustration.

He wandered over to Clark, noticing that the man was easily doing a shoulder workout with 150 pounds on the machine, half the weights. He only appeared to have only a little difficulty lifting it. Apparently the farm was a good place to work out your shoulders.

As he watched, he wondered what Clark's face would look like if he suddenly couldn't lift the weights anymore. The farmboy would probably turn blue from exertion, attempting to lift what he couldn't lift. Then he would give up, looking confused at his suddenly loss of strength and the sudden addition of weight. He would be dumbfounded.

Bart's face lit up with amusement. It was high time he stopped being the butt of everyone's jokes, literally, after the tree incident. He slunk off in search of Oliver, hoping his audience would assist him in his endeavors.

Bart found him doing hang cleans in the corner. "Hey Oliver!" He called out, a grin of anticipation on his face.

Oliver dropped the bar on the ground, turning to look at the pipsqueak. "What do you want now? Already bored?" Anticipating his answer, he started putting up the weights. He would go the local gym later and do his real workout.

"Si, but I was thinking of a little prank before I move onto our next course of action."

Oliver didn't like the glint in his eyes. He glanced over at Clark who was completely oblivious to the trickster who apparently had his number. Poor guy. "And what are you suggesting."

"That's for me to know and you to watch. Just wait here. I kinda want an audience to help catch the look on Clark's face!" Not bothering to listen to Oliver's next comments he hurried off.

Bart slunk around to the back of Clark's machine, waiting for him to take a rest. He didn't actually want to hurt the guy, so he waited for the machine to stop. When it did he carefully removed the pin and placed it on the heaviest weight setting, 300 pounds. Clark wouldn't know what hit him. Bart shuffled away, antsy with anticipation.

Clark had finished his 19th set of reps already. He was trying to show that he was a little tired and put a little show of effort on. However this was nothing. If he really wanted a workout, he needed to go pick up a couple of tractors and do a work out with them. But Bart wanted to come here, so he had to oblige. Speaking of Bart, he didn't immediately see him. He had moved off the treadmill sometime before, obviously bummed at the lack of female response.

When he finally spotted him heading over to talk to Oliver, Clark decided that he would do one more rep to even out the score and then join them in their conversation. Laying back he continued with his final rep, not really noticing that what he was lifting was double the amount he had been before.

Bart waited in anticipation, eager to see what Clark would do. Oliver, on the other hand, was not amused. "Seriously? That's all you could come up with? Not much of a prank if you ask me."

Bart rolled his eyes. "Yeah but with Clark every reaction is always priceless. It's something about his naivety that just makes it so much funnier." He smirked.

Oliver considered that point for a second. "You're right."

They both watched as Clark leaned back into the machine, once again getting ready to lift again. Bart rose on his toes. The moment of truth!... And he just lifted them with the same amount of effort as last time.

Disappointment flooded Bart's expression as he stared down at his toes. Oliver, however, was speechless. He could have sworn Bart put that on the maximum weights which would be 300 pounds. That was double what he had been lifting. Plus is appeared as if he was doing just as much work as the last rep. No, it actually seemed like he was faster! What the heck?

He turned to Bart. "Are you sure you put the pin in the right place? I mean who does that kinda should workout without even flinching! Especially after only lifting 150 pounds!"

Bart looked up, recognition and awe dawning on his face. "Wait what!? You're right! How come he can just sit there and rep twice the weight as if it's nothing? Wait a sec. Maybe just maybe..." His voice trailed off as he considered the possibilities. Only one unspoken thought was thought. "Maybe he's different like me."

Without even thinking about Oliver he flashed over to Clark, catching him by surprise.

"Bart! Where did you?" Clark stopped as he saw Bart's expression.

"You're different from normal people, aren't you." He said bluntly; he was serious for the first time since he had met them. This could be the first person he discovered different, like himself.

Clark looked confused, trying to figure out how Bart could have known or even thought that. "What are you-"

"Don't give me that. I moved the pin in the weights, hoping to see you confused, but instead you just keep lifting 300 pounds like it still weighs 150!" Bart was waving his hands wildly in the air, his frustration pouring to the surface. Clark looked shocked. He turned around, checking the weight settings on the machine.

Oliver walked up then saying, "If it makes you feel any better, Bart here is pretty fast. He left me and was in front of you before I could bat an eyelash." He smiled, trying to relieve some of the tension.

Bart perked up then, a look of chagrin covering his face. "Oops, I don't think sometimes. But yeah, I'm the fastest man alive." He sped back to the locker room, grabbing their stuff and was back before Oliver could blink. He had a triumphant grin on his face, looking excitedly at his buddies for praise.

As Clark watched Bart, he suddenly felt a little lighter. Bart was like him: different. Maybe he could be himself with them. Oliver sure seemed to be taking the news well. He fought with himself for a little bit before deciding it would be ok. Somehow he knew he could trust them. "Humph. I think I could give you a run for your money." He ran to his dorm, changed into his favorite blue t-shirt and ran back, once again before Oliver could blink.

"Sheesh! now I feel slow!" Oliver exclaimed. Where all his friends super fast or something?

Bart grinned, one thought now on his mind. "Dude, we could make a quick trip to Mexico for a burrito! But let me tell you, mi amigo, I know the best place around! She always welcomes me in as her favorite customer. I bet you would love her restaurant!" Bart began pacing with joy before suddenly stopping. "Wait, you have super strength and super speed? That's not very fair, I just got speed. I bet I'm still faster than you though. Wait, you got anything else in your arsenal?"

Clark reeled from the whiplash of Bart's thoughts. "Um, yeah..."

Bart and Oliver both squinted their eyes, identical looks of 'please continue' written on their faces.

Clark glanced around nervously, thankful for the fact they were the only ones in the weight room. "Well, um, I can see through things, well not lead, but everything else. I have heat vision and superhearing, and I'm virtually indestructible."

Both men gaped in awe.

"You can burn things with your eyes!"

"You can see through stuff? Like walls and clothes and..."

"BART!" they both snapped, clearly not amused. Clark was bright red, the locker room incident clearly in his mind.

"Man, I'm jealous of you guys. I can't do anything crazy like that."

"What are you talking about Oliver? I know it might not be a 'superpower', but you've got some crazy aim." Clark was not gonna let him get away with not telling his secret.

"Oh, um that..." Oliver looked at them warily, deciding what his next course of action should be. "I um, took a few classes."

Clark snorted, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "And learned how to hit minute grains in wood patterns as well was intricate shots to the body meant to take down but not kill? You can throw darts at those in your sleep."

Oliver looked at him sheepishly, knowing the jig was up. "Well, I kinda learned that the hard way... Survival of the fittest."

Bart interrupted then, excited by his new plan. "Hey since you have super strength, why don't you lug Ollie along and we can have this conversation over burritos in Mexico! What do you say, mi amigos."

Grinning, the two men nodded. Then with the familiar woosh, were gone.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** So sorry for the late update. I have had this written for a few days, but no internet to post it :(. So I'll be posting two chapters instead of one right now. I hope your enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Also, this chapter's a little long, but for an awesome reason! But I will tell no secrets, you'll have to wait and read!

* * *

Chapter 7: Destiny Moved

He made sure he had 3 alarms, all 2 minutes from each other, and a safety 10 minutes later. He made sure he did not own clown shoes, or suspenders, or anything crazy he could pick up in his sleep. He even checked to make sure Bart hadn't thrown an extra present into his school bag for a first day of class prank.

So when he woke up on his first alarm, Clark was already raring to go. He rechecked his bag, making sure everything in there was supposed to be in there. The he grabbed a pair of jeans and his favorite flannel shirt. He got ready, checking 3 times before he left that he was not dressed like a clown. He wasn't taking any chances.

Clark showed up early for once and got a spot on one side of the room, second to last row in the back. Then he just watched students trickle in as the time for class to start approached. The professor, Mr. Aldenheim, showed up a few minutes before the start and handed out the syllabus for the Journalism class.

Clark settled in as he listened to the man explain his syllabus.

* * *

She was late. Really late. Maybe her cousin was right, she shouldn't have taken that last challenge last night. Yeah she had won, but classes were a little more important. Well this class. It was her journalism class, and she wasn't gonna miss it for the world.

She had woken up 30 minutes after her alarm to her cousin's phone call. She threw on jeans and a tank and shuffled out the door. 2 seconds out and she ran back in, grabbing some instant coffee in a cup. Even if she was late, she couldn't leave the coffee. It was her lifeline.

She ran across campus, already a good 10 minutes late. Most of the students moved out of the way, but every once and a while she had to skirt around the idiots who weren't paying attention. As she neared the classroom, she put on a last spurt of speed before coming to a halt outside.

She took a deep breath, straightening her outfit before cracking the door open and slipping inside. She slipped into the last row, making as little noise as possible. There was a stack of syllabi on the desk next to her, so she picked one up and tried to figure out where the professor was at.

* * *

Some person came in 13 minutes late, trying and failing to make as little noise as possible. Whoever it was, was seriously irksome. They kept fidgeting in their chair, flipping through pages furiously, then flipping back to the front, taking out pens, scribbling stuff down, slurping coffee. They never stopped moving! Clark turned around, getting ready to give this person a piece of his mind.

Blue eyes met hazel. What ever thought he had had about his frustration died in his throat.

The person sitting behind him was a beautiful brunette. He hair fell in waves that framed her face and accented her hazel eyes beautifully. She had frozen as well when she had made eye contact with him.

He took a deep breath, drawing forth all his willpower. Then using that, he turned around, stoutly refusing to look back around at the gorgeous girl behind him.

* * *

She couldn't figure out where the heck the professor was in the syllabus! I mean how hard can it be to catch up! She dug through her backpack, trying to find her pen. Then she found it, buried deep underneath her notebooks. So she pulled it out and started writing notes. She finally slowed down just enough to take a look around, taking a drink of her coffee every so often.

The only person really sitting around her was a guy in the row in front of her. He had shaggy black hair and broad shoulders that seemed to be rigid. He looked like he would be tall, really tall, and strong. Talk about tall, dark, and maybe handsome. She couldn't tell just yet.

She took one long draught of her coffee, relishing its deliciousness when he whirled around, his mouth open as if to say something. She froze as her hazel eyes met his. They were blue, a deep blue; one that seemed to reach into your soul and pull your deepest secrets. His eyes visibly softened as he looked at her. Then just as suddenly as he had whirled around, he started slowly turning back. His eyes had hardened in determination, as if that little act had been difficult for him.

She had forgotten how to breathe. Talk about tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome.

* * *

Clark had bolted as soon as class was out, heading straight to the Little Blue Cafe. He sat down, ordering some coffee, and proceeded to repeatedly bang his head on the table.

She was a tease, whoever she was. He never should have turned around! Thanks to her constant moving, he couldn't ignore her, even if he tried! Of course most people wouldn't be able to hear the little sighs, the soft murmurs, or the absentminded scratching. He did. And that alone was gonna drive him crazy! He had never had to try and ignore someone, but he had to with this girl, and he failed!

Rosy walked up then, handing him his usual order of coffee. When he failed to do more than wave in thanks, she sighed, looking around the cafe. It was empty so she sat down across from him. "And what's your problem? From the current banging of your head in combination with the creepy smile, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say... a girl?" When Clark grunted in response she smiled.

Clark peaked up at her in embarrassment. She'd pegged him immediately again.

"Well, spill! I want to hear about this woman that has you all in a tissy!" Rosy sat forward, clearly indicating her expectations. When he rolled his eyes and kept silent she tried a different tactic. "Hmm... Let me guess... she's beautiful." He nodded. "Hard to ignore." He nodded again." And you have no clue who she is." He sighed, once again nodding. Rosy laughed, "Well, You'll just have to introduce yourself next time you see her!"

He sat up, opening is mouth when the door opened. In walked Chloe and the brunette from earlier. "Oliver said he likes to come get coffee here. I still can't believe we got to meet Oliver Queen! I mean, talk about lucky! All the cool things happen to Clark. Anyway, it's high time you finally meet my best friend ever. It took you long enough to get off your butt and- Clark!" Chloe exclaimed, finally sighting Clark.

Rosy had stood up when they walked in, but looked back down at Clark curiously when Chloe had spoken his name. Her shock turned to a knowing smile at the dumbstruck look on his face. That was definitely the girl he was crazy about.

Clark looked up, just in time to see Chloe... and the brunette! "What the heck? Don't tell me SHE'S Chloe's cousin!" He thought.

Lois looked at the guy sitting at the table and recognition crossed her mind. It was the hottie from class. Apparently Chloe's "Clark" was the same man she'd encountered today. As she got a better look at him, she realized he was definitely a member of the corn-fed rural community of Smallville. He was wearing the signature plaid and jeans look.

Clark stood up as they approached, giving a quick hug to Chloe. "Hey, I haven't seen you around yet. Oh, and excuse me. This is Rosy Williams, she works here at the cafe." He gestured to Rosy quickly before turning his attention back to Chloe's cousin.

Chloe shook Rosy's hand "It's nice to meet you, I'm Chloe Sullivan and this is my cousin-"

"Lois, Lois Lane." She smiled as she took Clark's hand. She quickly let go as a shock of electricity shot through her. "Ouch, shocking personality there farmboy!"

"What? No, that was definitely your fault." Clark countered. "And what do you mean farmboy? Got something against farmers?" He hoped she didn't. That would be a bummer.

"Humph. Course not! They grow the food I eat. But you fill the profile of a stereotypical farmboy to a T. You even got the plaid and jeans to complete the look! You should update your wardrobe Smallville, you're in the big city now." She huffed in deffense. However she secretly thought he really did pull off the farmer look better than anyone else.

"Hey! I like these clothes. They're comfy! And did you just call me Smallville? That's a town, not my name. My name is Clark, unless you already forgot." He said, exasperated. Clark really was enjoying their verbal banter.

"Yes, I did know! Sheesh, I pay attention! And Smallville because you encompass everything to do with small town rural people. Of course you wouldn't understand as a naive farmboy. So typical. Next thing I know-" "Eh-hem!" Chloe interrupted.

Rosy raised her eyebrow, she could tell they were both smitten and hiding said feelings behind banter and sarcasm. Interesting.

"Now that the two children are done arguing, can we sit down and just talk? I haven't gotten to catch up!" Chloe looked warily between the two, hoping they wouldn't start again.

"Wait a sec, what would you like to drink?" Rosy left when they had given her their orders.

They all sat at Clark's table, making a show of getting comfortable. Rosy quickly brought their drinks before heading off again.

"So how's your roommate Chloe?" Clark asked. When they had first met, she hadn't moved in yet.

"Oh, she's pretty cool. She's here for computer engineering instead. She wants to work in IT. She's been teaching me how to intensify my security and a little bit of hacking. She says I pick up fast. We had a class together this morning and she showed me how to break multiple firewalls while the professor went over the syllabus. It's actually pretty easy!"

"And what's your roommate's name again? I keep forgetting..." Lois asked.

"Bet you don't remember your name half the time," Clark laughed, earning him a punch. "Ow! What was that for?" He rubbed his arm.

Chloe gave them a pointed look before continuing. "Her name's Felicity Smoak. And I don't see why you don't remember. You're in my room most of the time."

"Well, she shies away from me like I bit her or something!" Lois exclaimed.

"Probably scared of you." Clark mumbled. Lois still heard him though.

"Oh! I've officially known you for all of five minutes and your telling me that I'm a scary person. I'm a friendly person! Why would she be scared of me?" She challenged.

Clark gulped, gathering his courage. "Well, from these few short minutes I can see that you are loud, rambunctious, bossy, annoying, and all the characteristics of a shy person's nightmare. If anything she probably heard you coming and decided to run as a defense mechanism for her sanity." He ended with a sneer, glad he managed to keep the "hilarious, gorgeous, and stunning" from the end of his list.

She scoffed at him. "Well at least I'm not confined to the world of plaid. And you're just as annoying as I am! Not to mention stubborn and naive." She grinned finishing the rest of her list of his assets in her head.

Chloe interrupted them then, hoping to stop the war. "Well, unfortunately Clark's right on this one. You're a little overbearing and it scared Felicity. She knows you're nice, but its gonna take her a bit to get used to you." She laughed at Lois's scrunched up face and Clark's triumphant one.

"Anyway, what I want to know is how your roommate is Lois. Last time you were telling me she was trying to figure out the game of basketball..."

"I know Chloe! It's crazy! It's like she doesn't know the culture of people. Sometimes she'll start talking with this archaic dialect before she catches herself. Also, when I went snooping I discovered a golden lasso in her closet. Talk about kinky! But I wouldn't pin her as one of those types! Diana seems like a nice, naive girl. Kinda like Clark over here." She stuck her tongue out at Clark at the last comment.

He rolled his eyes, choosing not to venture into that argument without sufficient ammo.

Chloe laughed. "Well, Diana does seem like a nice girl. She does have some strange habits though. She's probably from some remote tribe. I guess it's up to us to help her integrate into our society."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lois mumbled, clearly uncomfortable with the phrase.

Clark chuckled, catching her hesitancy. Lois whipped around, catching his eye. Both held their breath, trying to read the confusing emotions in the other's gaze.

Lois broke the stalemate. "And what was that laugh for?"

He let his breath out, shaking off his shock. "Because you obviously have problems with admitting you're wrong." He grinned, clearly proud of his observation.

Lois just scoffed, turning her head away in mock indignation.

Checking the clock, Clark realized his next class was, well soon. It was also across campus. He stood, smiling apologetically. "I've got to get to class. Anyway, it was good to see you Chloe, and it was nice to meet you Lois. Well officially." He shook their hands before heading towards the door. "Bye Rosy! Thanks for the coffee!" and with that he was gone.

Lois sighed in relief, the tension in her body lessening. No guy had ever managed to drive her crazy the way Clark did. She let her head fall on the table, banging it a couple times in frustration.

Rosy walked up then, taking in the sight of a frustrated Lois and a concerned Chloe. Chloe reached out to Lois, patting her a little, "What's wrong Lois?" Lois groaned in response.

Rosy smiled, "Can I have a guess Lois?" Lois's head snapped up then, her eyes narrowing slightly at the tall brunette.

"What the hay, why not? I mean maybe you can help me figure out what's going wrong with my head." She sat back, waiting on Rosy's reply. Chloe just looked back and forth between the two, confused.

"Clark." A knowing smiled spread across her face at Lois's reaction. Her eyes were popping out of her head.

"What! No. I mean... No! He's a farmboy, and I'm Lois, and no, I don't hold a flame for that weirdo. He's annoying and stubborn... and naive! Don't forget naive!" She was flustered at getting caught so soon.

Chloe's eyes widened at Lois's response. "What? You like Clark! Omg... He's the guy from Journalism isn't he! I thought that profile sounded familiar! That makes so much sense. Should have known. No one can avoid the Kent Charm. But I've also never seen him act that way with anybody. It usually takes a long time to bring out his sarcastic, stubborn side." Chloe thought a little bit, trying to decipher Clark's reactions. He seemed smitten, but she couldn't say for sure. The only crush he had ever had was on Lana Lang. Of course that was a long time ago. Chloe had tried herself to get with Clark, but he wasn't interested. And if she wanted anyone with Clark, Lois was a good option. She was one of the few people that would be able to handle an alien as a boyfriend. She also would be honest with Clark, and wouldn't use him for her own gain.

"I said no Chloe! I mean... well maybe. I don't know! I just met the guy! Something just seems right about him." Lois was slowly opening up. "Wait, how did you know! Chloe obviously didn't put it together, but you did. How?"

Rosy smiled, tapping her temple a little. "That's for me to know, and you to figure out." With that she walked back to the kitchen, a couple pairs of curious eyes following her. Chloe's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she made a mental note to look up Rosy Williams. Something was off about her.

"Let's get back to the dorm, They are having an ice cream party on our floor." And with that, they left.

Rosy watched them leaving, a sense of expectation and excitement creeping into her heart. Destiny was moving.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Rivals and Tin Men

Clark met Oliver and Bart at the cafe later. He sat down, looking from one to the other. Oliver looked really ticked off. About what, he had no clue. Bart looked disappointed which was pretty typical for him.

"So? What's got your boxers in a twist?" Clark addressed Oliver first, hoping to sidestep the usual Bart talk.

"Haha, very funny Clark." He glared. When Clark only raised his eyebrow, he sighed and gave in. "Just one of my classmates. He's a real idiot and likes making me look like an idiot. Plus I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me."

"Who is he and what led you to that conclusion?" Clark asked, curious. Not many people could get under Oliver's skin that fast.

"Bruce Wayne." Oliver mumbled, obviously trying to say it where no one would hear him.

"Oliver, superhearing... You might as well not even try." Clark smirked. Oliver flinched, obviously beating himself up mentally for that one. "Now what did Bruce Wayne do?"

At that Bart perked up, suddenly curious. "Bruce Wayne? You mean Gotham's billionaire playboy? I'd think you two would get along! I mean y'all are of the same mold!"

Oliver smacked him. "Seriously dude? I am nothing like that guy! He's arrogant, flirty, and flaky. I mean he parties more than I used to! They say he sleeps all day because of all the parties he goes to! And he had the gall to call me arrogant because I didn't flirt with all the girls fawning over me. I just wanted some peace and quiet, and he had to ruin it! And to make it all worse, he took the girls with him!" Oliver preceded to bang his head on the table.

"Wait doesn't that mean that your jealous cuz he took your chikas amigo?" Bart asked. He was rewarded with another smack to the back of his head. This one sent his face straight into the table as well.

Clark laughed. "For once, Bart is right. You sound jealous." He didn't even flinch when Oliver glared at him. "But don't let him get to you! He just wants a rise out of you. I mean, you're way better than him. He spends his time partying and you spend your time with us. You're trying to turn your life around."

Rosy walked up then, smiling as she set an order of chilli cheese fries in from of them. "I'll let you in on a secret Oliver. I would rather date a billionaire like you than him anyway. He's too moody for my taste." Then she was gone.

Oliver stared after her. "How does she always know what we're talking about?"

Clark shook his head. "I'm thinking she must have superhearing or something. I don't know... All she ever says is, 'that's for me to know and you to find out'. She always so cryptic... Anyway, now that we know you're just jealous of a lousy billionaire rival-Don't glare at me! It's true!-what's bothering you Bart?"

Bart looked at Clark, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

To Clark's surprise, Oliver was the one that answered, "Well Bart's upset because he got shot down by the 'love of his life'." He rolled his eyes.

"You were checking her out too, ya know! I saw you! You said you were checking out that brunette, but it was definitely my Chloelicious you were looking at!"Bart returned to his pouting.

"What a minute, Chloelicious... Are you talking about my friend Chloe? And Lois?"

Bart nodded. "Yeah, I had come to ask Oliver for a pen and those two came and knocked on the door for you. We told them you weren't there, but were probably at the cafe. Then they left."

Clark stared wide eyed at the two. He had forgotten that Chloe had stopped by the room before meeting him. "Umm... and what did Chloe say to you Oliver?"

Oliver had a long look on his face. Clark waved his hand in front of his face for a sec, then called his name again. Oliver jolted up, trying to gather himself. "What? Oh, Umm... Chloe just asked for you. She seemed really excited when she saw me though. She kept smiling all giddy or something. When she was leaving she said 'Stupid lucky Clark'. Her cousin, Lois was it?, didn't really say anything. Wait, no... she did make a comment on your 'primary color fetish' commenting that you were probably some kind of geek freak hick. Chloe just rolled her eyes and ignored her." And he was back off in lala land.

Clark snorted, trying to hide his relief when Oliver had tripped over Lois's name. "Well, I'm sorry about Chloe. She was really excited to meet you. She'll probably ask you all about your time on the island next time you see her. She's really interested." Oliver's eyes lit up as he nodded.

Bart interjected then, "Chloe didn't seem that excited to see me... She brushed me off as if it was nothing. I can't believe she didn't have any type of reaction to me! Nothing!" Clark and Oliver preceded to roll their eyes, knowing exactly what was gonna follow the 'denial' phase of his failure.

Phase 1: Bart flirts with girl.

Phase 2: Girl rejects Bart for obvious weirdness. (He uses strange pick-up lines... He needs to find someone with a better sense of humor.)

Phase 3: Bart feels overwhelming sadness from rejection.

Phase 4: Bart denies that it was anything he did, blaming the girl in question for his failure.

Phase 5: After ranting for a bit, he will develop a hairbrained plan to flirt with more girls that usually end with him running away from someone or something.

Oliver and Clark were not looking forward to phase 5... they never were.

Victor walked in then, dragging his computer. He spotted them, taking a seat in the free chair. "Hey, guys." Then not waiting for an answer, he buried himself in his computer.

After a few seconds of silent arguing, Clark lost. "Umm... what are you up to?" Clark asked hesitantly.

Victor sat up. "Backing up my files, encrypting them, and setting up more sophisticated firewalls and defense for my system. I would do this in my room, but I don't want my roommate to come back in the middle of it and getting water all over my hard drives... again."

"And why do you need to do that?" Oliver asked this time.

"Went to my computer programming class today. I was sitting behind these two blonde chicks and they were hacking into the computers in the room. They were good too. It seemed as if the short one was learning from the tall one. Anyway, I have some stuff I really don't want found out." He went back to furiously typing on his keyboard.

"Wait, a blonde?" Oliver and Clark said at the same time.

Victor looked up, confused. "Yeah, two of them."

"Is she blonde, short, curly hair, a little short, and wearing a pink sweater over a greyish shirt. Oh, and she had a pink headband in her hair today."

"Is she blonde, long hair probably in a ponytail, glasses, and a little on the tall side?"

Clark and Oliver asked their questions at the same time, leaving both Victor and Bart confused. Victor nodded to both of them saying, "Yes and yes, that sounds like the pair of them. I think they were roommates or something, I don't really know."

"Chloe."

"Felicity."

Clark and Oliver looked at each other, laughing at the irony. "You know Chloe's roommate?"

"Yeah, She's a childhood friend. And you should worry Victor, she's a good hacker." Oliver smiled.

Bart suddenly snapped his fingers, bringing them all to attention. "I got it! Let's go to the pool! I mean, we should celebrate an awesome first day of classes, right guys?"

Oliver rolled his eyes and Bart's obvious change of subject at the mention of Chloe. "That actually sounds kinda fun. What do you say Victor, you wanna come swim with us?"

"Most definitely not. Sorry, I don't swim." Victor laughed, trying to ward them off.

"Come on! It'll be fun," Bart whined.

Rosy walked up then, bringing a cup of coffee for Victor. When he looked at her confused she said, "I figured you'd be here for a while, so I brought the usual. Also, that's not exactly a good idea. I don't think Victor's exactly waterproof... Lol." When he gave her a look she said, "What, with that amount of computer gear you carry around with you, you'd think you were half machine." Picking up the plate on their table, she went to check on her other customers.

At Rosy's prodding, something in Clark's head clicked. Victor hated water, with a passion. He was also pretty solid, especially since he didn't even flinch when he had hit his elbow on Clark's chest. He looked at Victor, concentrating a bit. His x-ray vision kicked in, revealing a very interesting skeleton. Half of Victor really was metal.

Clark whirled around, staring at Rosy. Just on a hunch he thought, "Did she really just tell me discreetly that he was made out of metal?" He gasped when she WAVED. She turned around, winking at him before stalking off to the kitchen. "Don't tell anyone Clark. It's fun to watch 'em squirm." Her voice was actually in his head!

At least he now knew how she figured everything out so fast. When she talked about her people reading skills, she meant just that. Wow. Turning back to Victor he said. "With that much metal, I'd avoid the water too." He looked up at Clark, suspicious and panicked. "Don't worry Victor, we're like you, a little bit different."

When Bart and Oliver looked at him, understanding in their eyes, they smiled. Then they proceeded with the initiation talk for their little group. While they were talking, Clark sat back and thought. It was a little strange. He'd only been here for almost a week and he had already found 3 metahumans, and a human that was pretty close to being metahuman. And none of them were created from meteor rock. This was becoming more interesting by the minute. At least they were finding each other to band together. They could stick together against the world.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Girls meet Boys

She was bored. Again. The ice cream party had lasted all of maybe two seconds. The only thing she learned was that most of the girls in her dorm were either stuck up or antisocial. She had met two new girls there, one her neighbor across the hall and another from the third floor.

Her neighbor across the hall had long blonde hair and a dangerous personality. Or at least that's what it felt like at first glance. When Lois had first spotted her, she was glaring at her ice cream, clearly uncomfortable at the gathering. She said curt hellos with icy stares to the few girls brave enough to talk to her.

Lois, being Lois, had just gone up to her, ignoring her icy stare, and began to just talk about nothing. After getting past the "one word answer" phase, they actually found they had a lot in common. Well, personality wise. They were both straightforward, brash, and honest.

Dinah Lance was her name, or at least Lois thought that was her name. She came from Starling City, though she hadn't been there in a while. She was a biology major there at Met U, though she wasn't sure what she really wanted to do yet.

Dinah really did seem hesitant to get to know Lois, though Lois wouldn't take no for an answer. Lois had a knack for smelling trouble, and Dinah seemed like that's what she would be. Yet the more Lois talked to her, the more the two bonded. By the time she left, Dinah knew she had an actual friend.

The other girl she met was definitely a weird one. She had a thing for speaking in riddles. It just annoyed Lois at first until she saw that's how she got people to leave her alone. She was pretty tall and with light blue eyes that seemed to stand out against her dark black hair.

After a little introduction, she found out that she was a stage magician and had come to school for a theater degree. Her name was Zatanna Zatara. In one last riddle she handed Lois a tarot card and disappeared. Lois had turned the card over to reveal a room number and phone number. Weird.

Lois looked at the card again, trying to come up with some kind of plan of action to relieve her boredom. She sat up on her bed, looking out her open window. A nice breeze blew in her face as she scanned the grounds.

Just then a group of girls wrapped in towels walked up laughing. They looked as if they had just come from the pool... That's it! Lois jumped up, digging in her closet for her swimsuit, towel, and sunscreen. She packed it up, and turned to leave her dorm room.

Just then her roommate came back. "And where are you off to at this hour?" Her blue eyes sparked at interest as Lois froze. A smile creeped across her face, causing Diana to take a step back. Few mortals scared her like Lois Lane.

"Get your swimsuit Diana, we're going swimming!" she pulled her roommate into the room, standing authoritatively as Diana rushed to get her stuff. There was no way to say no to Lois.

When she was sure Diana wouldn't run, Lois opened her phone and texted Chloe to get her and Felicity ready to go swimming, no buts. Then she took out the tarot card and texted Zatanna the same message.

When Diana appeared to be ready, Lois stormed across the hall, pounding on the door. A small red head opened the door, shaking in her boots. Lois smiled sweetly, relaxing the little girl. "Is Dinah Lance here?" Diana flinched at the sweet tone in Lois's voice, knowing that there was no escape for this poor unfortunate soul.

"I'm here. Oh, it's you Lois. What do you want?" Dinah appeared, allowing her roommate to escape out of sight.

Lois grinned, her eyes flashing suspiciously. Dinah gulped, remembering her feeling from earlier about the girl. Lois was not to be crossed. "Get your swimsuit ready Dinah, we're going swimming." She grinned, showing a few too many teeth for anyone's comfort.

Dinah's eyes widened as she looked to Diana for help. Diana waved her hands furiously, giving no assistance. Dinah sighed, going back into the dorm room for her stuff.

Lois checked her messages, seeing that Chloe had yet to read her text, and Zatanna had affirmed her idea. She said she would meet them in the dorm lobby. She then returned her attention to the slow blonde in the room, tapping her foot impatiently.

When Dinah finally came out of her room, Lois just turned, leading the girls back towards Chloe's room. She knocked, once again putting the sweet smile on her face.

Felicity answered the door, gulping at Lois's expression. "Chloe!" She squeaked in exasperation, hoping to escape the hurricane.

Chloe looked up expecting Lois. She was surprised to see the two girls behind her, looking as if they had been lassoed into some huge scheme. Knowing Lois, that's probably exactly what happened. "What's up cuz?"

"Did you not get my text?" Lois asked, dropping the smile she knew didn't work on her cousin. She stood, her hands on her hips, keeping a close eye on Felicity in case she tried to run.

Chloe looked down, seeing the message on her phone. "Oh! hey, that sounds fun! I'll get my stuff together right away. But it would be nice if you _politely_ asked Felicity if she would like to join us." With that she disappeared into her closet.

Felicity's eyes widened in fear as Lois turned towards her, the sweet smile on her face again. "Yes?" She stood a little straighter, trying to muster up her courage.

"You wanna come swimming with us?"Lois's eyes sparked, making sure she knew there was no "no" answer to this question.

Felicity looked back and forth between the other two girls, noticing their whipped expressions. Sighing in defeat she said, "Sure..." She also went to her closet to dig out her swimsuit.

15 minutes later they arrived at the pool locker rooms. The three girls that had been dragged along actually started to enjoy prospect of swimming now that they were at the pool. They quickly changed, commenting on each other's swimsuits.

The pool was pretty clear as they got in, only a few groups of people were they to bug them. The only big crowd was by the lap pools where there was a group running races.

The girls were relaxing enjoying the calm water when _he _walked in. A group of girls on the other side of the pool had started giggling about a group of "hotties" heading their way. Turning her head Lois saw him.

Her farmboy walked up in blue swim trunks, just blue swim trunks. If Lois had thought he was hot before, she was mistaken. He was gorgeous! He had a smooth sculpted chest that she really just wanted to... No Lois! Don't give in...

In a desperate attempt to distract herself, she looked at the two with him. One was a shorty with brown hair. He kept talking, gesturing wildly in the air as they walked. He seemed to be the one who had dragged the others with him.

The other guy was blonde and super buff. However, he was covered in scars and tattoos. Lois committed those to memory, her curiosity telling her to look up the tattoo patterns later. He seemed self conscious of the people around him, his eyes darting around wildly.

Clark turned then, catching Lois's eyes with his movement. Their eyes met, causing them both to freeze... Again. She was really gonna have to work on that.

She blushed as he continued to stare, taking in her appearance. Of course she had done the same thing to him, but _he _hadn't been looking...

* * *

"Hola! Amigo! HOLA! Come on dude!" Bart was waving his hand hurriedly in front of Clark's face, trying to reach him. Clark started, looking back at Bart. "What?" He snapped, exasperated at being interrupted.

"What are you staring at dude?" He asked, following the guy's previous line of sight. Then he saw them. There were six beauties sitting in the pool. Three blondes, one brunette, and two black haired chickas. Bart was in heaven!

Oliver followed Bart's gaze, catching sight of Lois, Chloe, Felicity, two black haired girls and... Dinah. His eyes widened as they saw her. She was supposed to be dead. "Dinah?" He asked, exasperated.

She turned, her eyes widening in recognition. "Oliver?" She called back.

They just stayed there, gaping at each other in shock.

Lois looked back and forth between the two before she couldn't handle the silence any longer. "Well this is awkward. You know her buddy?" She huffed.

Clark rolled his eyes. "Not exactly the best timing Lois." He smirked.

She turned on him, ready to start the verbal banter once again. "Oh, and what would you know? I bet you never speak out of line, keeping your true thoughts inside, and always do what you're told. Don't you ever just want to live a little?" She accused.

Clark flinched as she hit the nail on the head. "Yeah, well maybe I do, but at least I think before I speak." He countered.

Lois's eyes narrowed suspiciously, causing every girl in the pool to draw in a sharp breath, ready for the hurricane.

"And how would you know that? You're just a plaid wearing farmboy. From what I've heard from Chloe you're always the goody two shoes who doesn't ever set a toe out of line. I bet you haven't done anything reckless before." She grinned, clearly provoking him.

Clark stood up straighter. "And how would you know that? There's a lot more to me than you realize Lois." He grinned, hiding his gulp at what he knew would follow his rebuttal.

Her eyes sparked dangerously as her provoking worked. "Hmm, well then I'll just have to see for myself." She paused, trying to think of a good challenge. Making a quick decision she said, "Well how about this. Friday night we all get together. I'll bring my friends and you bring yours. We'll have the party, but I get to come up with the entertainment. Your challenge is that you have to do every activity and everything I say, no matter how embarrassing. I'll get you to loosen up and live a little and we will all have a good time partying at the same time. What do you say, Smallville?" Her eyes said there was no backing out... whatsoever.

He flinched, imagining a number of various things that she might have him do. Yet he couldn't back out! Something about Lois brought his stubborn side out... "Ok, you're on Lois." He replied.

Oliver Bart, and Chloe looked at him, shocked. They would never had thought that Clark would take up that loaded challenge. The rest of the girls, looked at each other amused by the events. The awkward meeting had long been forgotten thanks to Lois and Clark's banter.

About then there was a large cheer form the lap pool. "And the undefeated champion of the swim race is Arthur Curry! Is there anyone else who would like to take this fish on?"

They all turned to look, a grin slowly spreading across Bart's face. "Hey Clark, you're a fast swimmer right? Why don't you take him on?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Fishstick and Batboy

Clark looked down at him, not amused. "You're fast too, why don't you do it?"

"Cuz I am a runner, not a swimmer... Sheesh... Just do it dude!"

Clark looked around, expectancy on everyone's face. Lois was ginning, clearly seeing if he would take the challenge. He gulped, turning back to Bart. "No way... I won't do it."

"Come on me amigo! Are you chicken? Afraid you'll lose?" Bart taunted.

" Smallville, come on! Just live a little!" Lois called behind him.

That made Clark snap. "Fine!" With that he stalked off towards the large crowd.

The girls got out and followed the boys as Clark announced his challenge. Everyone turned to look at them, wanting to see what person would dare challenge Arthur next. Then the crowd parted, revealing the current champion.

He was a tall blonde man, about Oliver's height. He had on green swim trunks and held onto an orange towel. He sneered as Clark approached, clearly enjoying his current fame. "Fresh meat?"

"Whatever, I'm just here to race." Clark said, just hoping to get this over with.

Bart tapped him on the shoulder, trying to catch his attention. "Now remember to swim fast, but not too fast mi amigo. It'll really impress these girls if you win, but you can't just swim like a bullet. Maybe if you just put on some good speed at the end of the race it'll be good." He slapped him on the back then, signaling him to go for it.

They agreed it would be a down and back race with one turn. Then they got to their positions. "On your mark. Get set... Go!" the announcer yelled, causing Clark and Arthur to spring into action.

Arthur was fast, probably Olympic Speed level as he made the first stretch. Clark judged his speed and sped up a bit to catch up. Arthur seemed to sense his speed increase, and sped up as well. Clark turned milliseconds after Arthur, putting on more speed. He in sped up in turn. As they neared the finish line, Clark put on one last burst of speed, keeping to a hopefully believable level. Arthur noticed only a second to late as the touched the wall together.

As they both came up he turned, an accusation on his lips. Clark saw his distress and shushed him before he said anything stupid. At the moment, no one seemed to notice they were moving a little too fast.

"AND IT'S A TIE!" The announcer roared as shocked fans roared in surprise. The two started to get out, still holding eye contact with each other in suspicion.

Then a swoosh filled the air. Clark turned, catching sight of a dart that had been shot into the lap pool. Then the entire pool sparked, sending up a cloud of steam. The random watchers and students left, crying hysterically as only the girls, the guys and Arthur were left behind.

"Where are the stupid lifeguards?" Lois cried, confused at their absence.

Clark turned, using his x-ray vision to try and find them. And he did. They were all tied up and knocked out behind the pool locker room. How had they not noticed that before?

As Clark opened his mouth to comment, an arrow came shooting down towards Oliver. Clark acted on instinct, catching it before it could get to his friend. He looked down at the arrow, noticing that it was handmade and extremely old. He turned to Oliver, holding it out to him. Oliver just stared at it, paralyzed.

Lois finally spoke up, "Umm... Who's shooting at us? And how in the world did you catch that!?" Chloe put a hand on her arm, trying to calm her.

Clark turned around, scanning the area for the man who shot the arrow. He caught sight of someone in the bushes just beyond the fence, apparently snooping around. Clark looked at Bart, signaling where he saw the man. He nodded, catching his meaning.

"I think I'm gonna head to the bathroom." Clark said, scuttling away.

"Me too!" Bart said, hurrying after him.

"That's the oldest excuse in the book!" Arthur called after him.

"Whatever fishstick!" Bart returned.

With that they were gone. Dinah approached Oliver and the arrow, gasping when she recognized it. "Isn't that?"

"Yeah... It must be Slade..." Oliver was confused. He had killed Slade, hadn't he? And yet here was his arrow, the same one he had used to shoot him in the heart. He knew that the one he sent through his eye was still on the island, so had Slade survived and kept this arrow all this time?

He turned to look at Dinah. Well, Dinah had survived... Somehow... So why not Slade?

Chloe came up then, demanding his attention. "Hello! Earth to Oliver and Dinah! What's so special about that arrow?"

Oliver stood up, scrambling for an explanation. Dinah just stood there shocked. She thought Lois was the only one with that level of assertiveness.

As if reading her mind she said, "Yeah, Lois isn't the only one who knows how to speak up. Now, what's the story with that arrow?"

Oliver sighed, "Let's just say it's a memento of a failure."

* * *

Bart and Clark quickly caught up to the shadow. Bart blocked his path as Clark picked him up by the scruff of his neck. "What have we here, mi amigo? A crazy archer perhaps?" Bart taunted.

Clark rolled his eyes, dragging the kicking man back towards the pool area.

"Let me go!" the man yelled as he continually tried to take down Clark. He hit every pressure point he knew of, and nothing! This man just kept on walking. Reaching down into his belt he pulled out a bat shaped taser, charged it, and attacked Clark.

Clark looked down at him, amused. "If you haven't figured it out yet, it's gonna take a lot more than that to take me down."

The man seemed to give up then, sensing a losing battle. "I don't know what y'all are talking about! I was trying to track the crazy archer who was shooting at y'all. He disappeared right as I almost had him. If you hadn't interfered I might have been able to figure out where he went!" He huffed.

About then he and Bart had returned to the group. "Look who we found!" Bart yelled excitedly.

Clark threw the man down in front of Oliver.

Oliver looked down, sighing. "Wrong guy. That's Bruce Wayne. Don't tell me you don't even know what he looks like either Clark."

Clark looked down, shocked. "Maybe I should pay more attention to celebrities. Anyway, he did put up a pretty good fight and attempted to taser me... So what else was I supposed to assume!"

Bruce shrugged him off then, giving him a suspicious look. "Well you're the steel wall who won't budge."

Bart laughed at that, earning himself a glare from Clark and Bruce.

Oliver stepped between them then, filling them in on what he had learned from the arrow. They both looked shocked, then enraged. He had tried to kill their friend.

"We'll catch Slade, Oliver, no matter what it takes!" Clark promised.

Diana interrupted then. "Well, since you have forgotten our existence, would you mind explaining exactly who you are?" She eyed them all suspiciously, measuring them up. Something was odd... about all of these men.

"Oh, and you can tell us how you caught that arrow while you're at it. You all smell fishy to me." Lois added on, her curiosity bringing her to question the men. Her cousin had told her about a lot of crazy stuff that happened in Smallville, and now she was thinking maybe Clark was part of that.

"It was just his reflexes, Lois! He-"

"Don't even try to defend him. I can smell a mystery from a mile away. And we are all gonna have to be in the same field of knowledge if we are going to take down this 'Slade' character. I know I can defend my own, but I need to know exactly what I'm getting into!"

They all looked at Lois, silently agreeing with her sentiment. Clark looked around, measuring up the people there. They all seemed trustworthy. He sighed, making up his mind.

"I tell you what, we are going to have to band together as a group. Whatever is said and revealed in this group, stays in this group, got it?" When they all nodded he let out the breath he was holding. "We better get out of here for this talk. Let's head to the Little Blue Cafe."


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: **I think I just had an explosion of creativity or something today. Anyway, this one's a pretty long chapter, but that's because it is also a huge milestone for our heroes. Just in case you're wondering as you read, there will be a chapter when Clark develops super/arctic breath. He didn't have it at the beginning of season 5, so I kinda wanted to make my own origin to it. And he will learn how to fly. He has to win those races with Bart somehow. Also, to figure out what Zatanna is saying, just read it backwards... Most of you probably know that, but I'm just trying to cover my bases! :) Please read and enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 11: Confessions and Creation

When they reached the cafe, it was empty except for Victor and Rosy. Clark sighed in relief, glad the place was vacant. He couldn't think of any other spot that would be large enough for their group. He gestured for them to bring the tables together, attaching them to Victor's.

Victor looked up then, confused. "What's-?"

"We are having a meeting, and I am including you in this meeting. We'll fill you in when we get this straightened out."

Rosy walked in then, carrying 12 different drinks and setting them in front of the everyone. They all looked down in confusion. "I figured y'all would need a drink for this meeting. I would join you, but I think I would be of much better use as a scout. I'll make sure you aren't disturbed." She walked out then, sitting on the front porch.

Clark shook his head, trying to come up with the best way to start this meeting. "Well, that was Rosy. She's going to make sure we don't get overheard. I think we should just all start by introducing ourselves to each other. I'm Clark Kent."

They went around the circle, just saying their name before it returned right back to Clark. He sighed. "I'm really not sure how to start this."

"Maybe you should just explain about yourself first. Obviously there's something different about you with the way you caught that arrow." Lois suggested.

Clark rolled his eyes. Chloe hadn't been exaggerating when she said Lois was like a dog on a pant leg when it came to an interesting story."Well excuse me if this is a little difficult for me to say! It's not exactly easy to go pouring out your secrets to people you just met!"

That shut her up nicely.

Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "Well, as Lois pointed out, I did manage to catch that arrow. That's because I have powers." At most of their confused expressions, he elaborated. "Sheesh... Well I am super strong, I can see through things-"

"What!" Felicity exclaimed before covering her mouth. She and the rest of the girls firmly crossed their arms over their chests. Chloe just laughed, amused that their reactions had pretty much matched her own.

Clark rolled his eyes. "It's only when I concentrate! Why do all the girls fixate on that one? Anyway... I can also burn things with my eyes, hear a dog barking a county away, am virtually indestructible, and I'm faster than a speeding bullet."

"But not faster than me, mi amigo!" Bart exclaimed, grinning.

"Is that all because of the meteor rocks in Smallville? Chloe said that a lot of people gained superpowers and went psycho because of those rocks..." Lois looked at him expectantly, testing her hypothesis.

Clark hesitated, looking at Chloe for help. She just nodded encouragement. "Well, not exactly... I'm an... alien."

They all looked at him, amazed. He hadn't told the guys the alien part yet.

Chloe coughed, trying to diffuse some of the tension. When they continued to stare, she decided to intervene. "Guys, seriously right now? Clark's like the most normal guy I've ever met! Yeah he has super powers and is an alien, but sometimes he's more human than humans!"

Lois caught on then, taking charge. "Yeah, I mean he has a lot of human traits! Like his obsession with plaid, or his goody-toe shoes routine! He even looks like the rest of us! There's no reason to treat him different just cuz he's from another planet... He's still Smallville."

"Thanks Lois... I think..." Clark said with a slight smile.

Everyone started nodding their heads in agreement, clearly won over by Lois's speech. "Well, I'm not that special, I'm just super fast." Bart intervened, attempting to move the conversation forward.

Arthur interrupted then. "Well, technically I'm not human either... I'm Atlantian." He took a sip of his water then, refusing to make eye contact with the rest of them.

Victor sat up straighter. "Oh! No wonder you are always at the pool or drinking water! It makes sense now! Sorry for hackling you about that... It's just I'm not very good with water... I'm a cyborg."

"What? How the heck did you become half machine?" Arthur asked, shocked.

"Umm... When I was in an accident, I was picked up by a company and experimented on. They gave me mechanical bioenhancements and I had to escape before I became more machine then man." He scratched his head nervously.

The girls all looked at him, trying to see the robot parts of him. He seemed to pick up on their curiosity. "Well, it's under my skin... I have been able to upgrade my systems though and can now do a little hacking with my internal software." He smiled sheepishly.

Chloe and Felicity perked up then, "Really?" He just nodded. "That's sooo cool!"

Diana spoke up then. "It is amazing that you have been able to adapt to this society so well, Clark. I am from an Amazonian tribe that is far removed from modern society. I am one of their warriors. I also am super strong, fast, with a lot of stamina and agility. I have an accelerated healing factor and I usually fight with my bracelets. I also have a golden lasso I can use to have people tell me the truth. Oh, and I can fly."

Everyone looked at her in awe.

Clark smiled. "Well, just have to give it time Diana. I was raised as a human, so I don't really have any troubles. I mean after I got over the whole 'I'm not human' phase. It's still kinda weird for me to think of myself as an alien at times... Also, what does it feel like to fly?"

She smiled, "Like freedom and bliss."

He sighed, looking down. "Maybe it's not as bad as I thought..." He mumbled.

Zatanna spoke up then. "This has been an entertaining meeting. I may not have powers quite like yours, but I do have some tricks up my sleeve." When everyone looked at her, confused. "I'm a magician."

Clark and Chloe gasped, now on their toes. After having dealt with Isobel, they were wary of any type of magic.

Everyone else looked skeptical. "Magic isn't exactly real. It's a trick of the light." Lois stated, offended by Zatanna who she thought was just trying to show off.

Zatanna turned to her and said, "sthguoht eurt rouy kaeps." Her eyes glowed blue as Lois's did also.

"This is a little crazy! Fishboy is from Atlantis... Like the lost city! I thought that was just a legend. Then we have a metal boy with supped up prosthetics! Oh and don't forget Amazonian wonder woman... Bet she's never had to ask twice for a date... Bet guys fawn all over her... And I don't believe her bit about her lasso... I bet it's just part of her kinky act. Oh and then there's the speed king who hits on like every girl... Doesn't he know how to take a break! I mean he has a serious thing for my cousin too... I'll just have to keep my eye on him. And speaking of my cousin, she's taking all of this too quickly! Smallville must do things to a person's mind. At least Felicity seems just as shocked as me... Oh and I can't seem to figure out Dinah and Oliver! What the heck is their relation! I mean that meeting was awkward enough without the arrow incident. And Bruce better keep his hands to himself or I'll teach him what's up... He keeps looking at me, and I don't appreciate it. If anyone here's gonna touch me it's gonna be-"

Chloe finally figured out what was going on and clamped a hand over Lois's mouth before she had to hear exactly what she was thinking about Clark. That would be too awkward at the moment.

Zatanna smiled, but didn't reverse her spell. She was hoping to hear more of Lois's mind. It seemed kinda fun. "As you can see, my magic is real."

Clark chuckled. "Yeah. Chloe and I have run into magic before and it's not exactly a fun time for us. The rest of them are probably just shocked to know it's real."

Chloe nodded in agreement, still holding Lois's mouth shut. "Will you please reverse this before she continues? I really don't want to hear what's about to come out of her mouth." She pleaded with Zatanna.

Zatanna smiled and said, "dne lleps."

Chloe carefully took her hand off Lois's mouth, pleased when she did not start talking. Lois glared at Zatanna before thanking Chloe for saving her from a potentially awkward situation.

Clark took note of Lois's blushing face, choosing to question her later on what she was about to say. "Anyway, I'm guessing the rest of y'all are all more human. I thought that keeping everyone here informed would be a good way to keep us all in the loop so we could watch each other's backs."

Dinah spoke up then. "I am a martial arts and weapons expert and I have a sonic scream that I can use to incapacitate people." She smiled weakly as they looked to her.

"I'm a martial arts expert as well, though I prefer bows, arrows, and darts as my choice of weapons." Oliver added. Then he turned to Bruce, "What about you big guy?"

Bruce Wayne huffed, looking away.

"Come on, everyone else shared!" Oliver huffed.

At that Bruce looked at the two cousins and blonde on the other end of the table.

"What!?" Lois exclaimed at the accusing glare. "Fine, you want to know about us? I'm a military brat. I beat up people with my fists. I'm good with self defense and guns. I also have a knack for good old detective work." She crossed her arms, glaring back at Bruce.

Chloe snorted. "Yeah, and a knack for getting in trouble. I'm just her cousin, but I have extensive knowledge about metahumans from my time with Clark in Smallville. I'm also pretty handy with a computer. Though I'm not as good of a hacker as Felicity."

Felicity blushed at that. "Yeah, but you're better at self defense. I'm just a computer hacker."

"And a great one at that!" Chloe smiled encouragingly at her.

Everyone now returned to staring at Bruce. He sighed, giving in. "Fine. I'm a martial arts expert and I have a lot of gadget's I use. Grappling hooks-"

"Tasers!" Clark interjected.

Bruce sent him a look. "Yeah, and a car I had made. I call it the batmobile."

"What!" They all exclaimed. Bruce just shrugged.

Clark shook his head, glad Bruce had finally seemed to join in. "Now that we are all on the same page as to powers and abilities, let's get down to the real business of this meeting. Slade. He is after Oliver because of their involvement with each other on the island. We stand to assume that we are now all his targets. He said he would take everyone away from Oliver, and we are on that list. That means we have to stay sharp at all times! I say that we should meet up every week to keep each other updated on any new information we have acquired about Slade. Do you all agree?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"Good."

Bart spoke up then. "Hey, we could just make a club as a cover, ya know! I mean a kind of club where we can come hang out and if any one of us gets in trouble, we can have each other's backs! I've never really had a brotherhood before, so I think it would be great if we all banded together!"

Oliver spoke up, "I think the pipsqueak is right. But that means we are going to need a name."

"Well, I think we should have the word justice in it," Victor suggested.

Arthur laughed. "I concur with the tin man!"

"What did you call me fishstick?"

"I said-"

"Enough!" Felicity said. She was sitting right next to the two and was tired of their fighting. As soon as she said it she blushed, sinking down in her chair.

Everyone laughed. "Well, how about Justice League. I mean, Justice club doesn't quite sound right... a league sounds cooler." Chloe inputted.

"Oh! Why not the Justice League of America! After all, Clark seems to be a leader and has an unnatural affinity for red, white, and blue." Lois suggested.

They all looked at each other, nodding.

Clark smiled. "Well how about this, we'll call it the JLA club. Then it'll still stay as a cover, but we'll know it stands for Justice League of America."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well, if that's all, we can call this meeting adjourned. We can all meet next week in the Little Blue Cafe. Rosy will probably help us keep people away while we talk about the serious stuff."

They all got up to separate then, heading back to the dorms. Right before they did Lois called out. "Don't forget I'm having a party Friday night! It'll be embarrass the Clark night!"

Everyone laughed as Clark groaned in frustration. This was going to be a long week.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Fiesta Part 1: Card games

For some reason, Lois's party actually caused the entire week to slow to a crawl. It had already been slow due to it being the "Syllabus Week". But now it moved at snail race speeds.

This really bugged Bart who seemed to get into even more trouble with the extra time. He managed to get chased by a mob of girls with torches and pitchforks from the theatre department, a group of wrestlers he accidentally caught on fire with one said torch, and somehow a pack of tigers... No one was sure about the tigers, but they had all worked quickly to get them back to the zoo unscathed. Bart wouldn't talk about it either, feigning amnesia on the whole incident.

Felicity, on the other hand, thought the week went by too fast. Though Clark was the clear target of Lois's scheme, she knew that the embarrassment factor would radiate from him onto the more susceptible people, aka her. She tried every excuse in the book to get out of going to the party, but every time Lois was right there with her "don't even think about it" glare that had her scrambling backwards. On the last ditch attempt the night before, Lois had actually turned it around and Felicity now had to go and buy 3 packs of cards for the entertainment. After that she just gave up.

And poor Clark had to battle between excitement and utter terror the entire week. Lois had taken up to creepily popping up everywhere with that sugary smile as she asked, "So are you excited for Friday!" The more she did it, the more on edge he was. He was sure she had thought up the best tortures imaginable for him. He was slowly seeing every aspect of the Mad Dog Lane that Chloe had talked about over the years surface. Yet somehow it only made him want to kiss her... Where did that come from! No. He would not give into Lois's charms...

In the meantime, everyone had made themselves at home in the Little Blue Cafe. It had become like a haven to the group. They could just hang out and have fun during the day with people that understood them. In fact, Lois had talked Rosy into letting them use the place as the location for their party on Friday.

There was no new news on Slade though. Oliver hypothesized that he was probably observing them from afar in order to plan his next attack. He guessed that the first arrow probably wouldn't have killed him either. It was just a warning and reminder for him. They all stayed on the lookout and on their toes, but no one ever saw anything.

Friday finally came and hurricane Lois was back. She rounded all of the club up, using her sickly sweet smile and death glare combo, and had them all sitting in the Cafe at 10 PM sharp. Then she giggled, telling them to stay put as she checked on Clark.

He was in his dorm room, hating what he had gotten himself into. Lois had kidnapped him earlier that day. Well if you call sending Clark a cute grin and telling him to follow as he stupidly obeyed kidnapping. He stared in horror at the fabric she had given him. He would die of embarrassment if he wore this!

Lois barged in then, stopping at the sight of him standing exactly how she had left him... three hours ago. "Come on Smallville, I gave you three hours to stare at it! Just put it on!"

"Lois, seriously right now! I can't believe you want me to wear this! I mean... can I at least wear something with it?"

Lois tapped her finger to her lips, feigning thinking. "Yeah... Umm... No." She smirked at his face.

Then he turned the tables on her, his puppy dog eyes making its debut in her life. _'Crap... Crap, crap, crap! That's like adorable! I mean it's so-NO! Lanes never give in... But he looks so cute and fluffy and-' _Lois shook her head, suddenly understanding all those ravings about the "stupid irresistible Clark puppy dog eyes".

She took a deep breath trying to gather herself. Then he stuck his lip out a bit, a hint of a pout playing on his lips. That's what took Lois Lane down. A fraction of a centimeter... "Ok Smallville.. I guess you can wear some shorts with it... but no shirt!" She crossed her arms, trying to uphold the last of her dignity.

Clark shot that last dignity to shreds with one move. "Thanks Lois!" He exclaimed, beaming at her with his goofy, lopsided grin. With that Lois Lane was down... Literally. Just as Clark had turned around, Lois's knees gave out, causing her to hit the ground with a thud!

Clark turned around rapidly, trying to figure out what happen. "Lois? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine! Sheesh... I just, umm, tripped. Yeah, on this desk!"

Clark narrowed his eyes before turning back around and heading for the bathroom. When he was gone, Lois let out a sigh of relief. _'I'm gonna have to watch out for Clark... He's got a little too good of an arsenal to take down this Lane's armor... Wait no, that didn't come out right... I mean he's a threat! Yeah, that's what I meant. It's not like I have anything more than-'_

Right then Clark came out, silencing Lois's thoughts. "There, happy?"

She smirked, trying to keep her eyes off his bare torso. "Very."

* * *

Lois opened the door to the Cafe, clearly amused by her handy work. No one had dared to move in her absence; they all feared the brash brunette. "Without further ado, I present you with the man of the night, the life of the party, Clark Kent!" She threw the door open, revealing a very disgruntled Clark.

He was wearing a pair of red wrestling boots, his blue swim trunks, a blue mask, and a huge red cape. Everyone burst out laughing. "Thank goodness I didn't have to wear the underwear..." Clark muttered.

With that out of the way, Lois quickly started up the party. "Ok, We have a few activities we are going to do tonight. For now we are going to start with plain, simple card games. We have three decks of cards to play with as well. We'll start this off slow tonight with a classic: Go Fish." At everyone's groan, Lois smirked. "With a twist! Sheesh... you'd think it was the end of the world or something. Anyway, If you have to 'go fish' then you have to take a drink!"

Lois choose that time to pull out multiple drinks from practically thin air. She had everything from beer to tequila to vodka. "Nothing too fancy guys. Also I have lots of snacks over there as well."

They brightened at the news, Go fish taking on a whole new meaning. They soon got started on their game. The game was moving pretty quickly until it got to Clark's turn. He managed to get books of everything in his hand before drawing his next round of cards. Lois looked at him in disappointment, clearly hoping for him to fail.

One game of Go Fish had left Clark the clear winner. Chloe was trying to suppress her laughter at Lois's exasperated face. She enjoyed watching Lois squirm, so she decided to keep Clark's little x-ray cheating to herself.

With a pouting face, Lois decided to move onto their next game: ERS. "Now guys, I think we need to split up the super fast people into one group and us slow pokes into another... It's not exactly fair that they will win the slaps every time from us!"

With that comment, Diana, Clark, and Bart retreated to their own game with a single deck of cards. Lois taught them quickly how to play the game, indicating what each face card meant and when to slap on doubles and sandwiches. They quickly got rolling.

Everyone ran out of cards fairly quickly except for Lois, Oliver, and Bruce. The rest had all decided to just watch and see which of the three would win. Oliver and Bruce matched each other in speed, recognizing quickly which sets of cards to slap. However, it was Lois that was clearly setting the pace. Oliver and Bruce may have been even, but they were way under skilled against the great Lois Lane. She took no prisoners, slapping mercilessly any hand that happened to be underneath her own on the pile, leaving multiple bruises. Soon the two billionaires had slowed down just to save themselves from having permanent scars from playing cards. In the end they didn't hold out and they lost as well.

Lois cheered as she won, preparing herself for the real battle: poker. But as she turned she realized that the other three were still going at it.

Diana, Bart, and Clark were all evenly matched. Bart had the best reflexes, so he moved the fastest. However, Clark recognized the doubles and sandwiches faster, allowing him to keep up with the speed trickster. Diana held her own, matching their determination with her own incredible concentration that allowed her to keep up with the other two.

The rest of them couldn't keep up with the flying cards as they moved at an unearthly pace. "Crazy speed demons... Makes me want to ban pipsqueak from ever going near my car." Bruce muttered.

Oliver laughed. "For once, I concur."

Bart tried something new, trying to distract one of his opponents. He quickly supersped around to the other side of Diana, tapping her innocently on the shoulder before returning. Diana turned, missing the sandwich Clark had seen. She looked down, realizing she had one card left. She placed it down, noticing it was just a number. She hung her head in defeat.

Clark shook his head. "That was dirty Bart... I saw you superspeed. You may be fast, but I can still see you move." He goaded Bart, trying to throw him off.

Bart scoffed. "I am offended mi amigo! I have no clue what you are talking about! It's as if you don't trust me my friend." He sent him a pair of innocent eyes.

Clark chuckled. "Uh Huh."

Chloe tapped Zatanna on the shoulder then. Zatanna leaned down, allowing the blonde to speak in her ear. A huge grin broke across her face as she nodded. Then she looked at Bart saying, "noitcartsid tcefrep."

Both of their eyes shown blue for a brief moment. Bart looked down at his cards, finally noticing the queen he was about to put down. He stopped, staring awestruck at it. It was a girl in a bikini at the beach! He looked at all the cards, seeing various girls and foods expressed on all of them. He could no longer pay attention and soon Clark had beaten him. As soon as Clark had won, Bart snapped out of it.

"Hey!" he called out, trying to find the person who had tricked him. His eyes narrowed at Zatanna who simply smiled. "Zatanna you better hope-"

"Oh put a sock in it half pint... Anyway, let's get onto the real card game: Poker!"

Everyone groaned, not looking forward to the competitiveness.

"What are we going to bet? I mean, most of us don't have money unlike a couple of us- *cough* Oliver *cough* Bruce." Arthur said.

"Yeah, what fishstick asked!" Victor chimed in, earning a glare.

"Hmm... You're right... That wouldn't be fair to anyone. Maybe we'll have a limit on the amount so that the idiots over there don't go overboard." Lois suggested.

Oliver and Bruce looked at each other, warily. Then reaching a silent agreement, they turned back. "We'll limit each other to $300 each... After that we'll start gambling property."

Everyone let out relieved breaths. They were all pretty much broke. Lois smiled, ready to get the game on the road.

Chloe sat next to Clark, giving him a knowing glare. He caught her gaze, and they talked silently for a bit before coming to some sort of agreement. Chloe knew Clark was using his x-ray vision, and she wanted in. Everyone else had forgotten that fact, and she was going to use that to her advantage. They signaled throughout the game, Clark telling her when to fold or bet more.

Lois was getting more fed up as the game went on. Oliver and Bruce had a lot of experience with this game and were definitely her greatest competition. However, Clark and Chloe seemed to be doing great as well... Way better than what two small town goers should be doing. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but drew up a blank on how they could be cheating. She let it pass for the time being.

Five more hands and she was fed up. Clark knew a little too much on every round. She knew he wasn't superspeed because Bart had already been caught due to Clark seeing him. Bart would have outed him immediately if Clark had tried. She sat there contemplating as they dealt the next hand.

This time Bruce had 4 aces. 4! "Bruce Wayne! I know you just cheated in poker! How dare you!..." Lois went off on a rant as Bruce stared wide-eyed back at her. It really had been luck. "And don't you try to deny it! In fact, Diana why don't you get that little truth telling lasso and-"

She froze, something clicking in her head as she thought once again how kinky that lasso was. _X-Ray Vision._ Smallville and Chloe were using his freaking X-RAY VISION to win at poker! She turned, her eyes flashing in their direction. Chloe looked away, feigning innocence. Clark looked like a deer facing a two ton semi.

"YOU DIDN'T! X-RAY VISION! REALLY GUYS!" She paused, trying to calm herself.

Clark smirked, shrugging his shoulders. That did it. Lois snapped.

She vaulted across the rooms that beat even Bart's fastest speeds and quickly had him laying on the ground and his chair had flown into the table, knocking it over. She straddled him, putting her hands on his throat. If he wasn't a Kryptonian, he'd be dead.

"Lois, get off! I had to get an advantage somehow! Sheesh!" He spluttered, trying in vain to get her off. Though if either had thought about it, that just meant that he didn't want her to get off.

She clutched down harder. "Oh, you're not getting out of this one! I mean seriously! You used your x-ray vision to win at cards? Why? And here I thought you were a boy scout."

"Why! Because you gave me no other choice! Chloe and I were trying not to lose all of our money to the great gambler Lois Lane! Also, you were the one who told me I needed to live a little!"

She paused, considering what he was saying. "True, I did say that... She removed her hands from his throat, though made no move to get off of him. Then she smiled, the plotting grin back on her face. "Zatanna, would you be a dear and grab the tequila?"

Everyone stared at her. Clark pretended to be horrified by her suggestion. He was going to have to pretend to be drunk or he was never going to hear the end of this.

Zatanna soon came back, handing her the tequila. "Ok Smallville, bottoms up." She forced his mouth open and just poured the tequila straight in.

Once again grateful to be a Kryptonian so that he didn't need to come up for air, Clark soon had finished the whole bottle. Lois let him up after that, smiling in glee at the prospect of a super drunk Clark.

He stood, trying to sway like a drunk. He pretended to trip, smiling foolishly before slurring, "So whatz next Ms. Lane?" Chloe laughed at him, but more because of his poor acting skills than anything else.

"Oh, I don't know... How about a round of truth or dare?"

* * *

**AN: **OK guys, I have an idea for a later chapter, but I kinda want some input from y'all. I got to thinking about Lois and her love costumes and subsequently comicon. Then that got me thinking about what everyone would wear to said comicon. So I kinda want your imput to what their costumes would be.

I'm a huge fan of BOTH DC and Marvel (basically if it's a superhero and kicks butt, I'm for it!) so I started thinking what if Marvel was the comics in Clark's world? Who would they dress up as? I want your suggestions for all twelve characters so far: Clark, Lois, Felicity, Chloe, Oliver, Bruce, Bart, Diana, Dinah, Zatanna, AC, and Victor. It can be anywhere from marvel, (Avengers, X-men, Spiderman). But I do want to challenge y'all that their counterparts be like them in either personality or superpowers. Anyway, I can't wait to hear some of y'all's suggestions!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Fiesta Part 2: Truth or Dare

They sat in a circle as Lois put the now empty tequila bottle in the middle. "I think it's only fair if we do this the random way. We'll integrate spin the bottle with truth or dare. First spin is who gets to pick the truth or dare, second is who has to do the truth or dare. After that the person who did the challenge gets to spin to choose their victim." Lois smiled, glancing at everyone around the room. "Oh, and one last rule. If you don't do either, you have to take a shot." She passed the shots around once again.

By this time after all the card games, everyone was pretty much at least buzzed. Clark was just pretending to be drunk, but that was to save his own skin. Lois smiled at her handywork before taking the first spin.

Every held their breath as it slowed, finally landing on Victor. He smiled, then reached out to spin to find his victim. It landed on Zatanna. "Oh! The magic lady's first!' Lois smiled in glee.

"Truth or dare?" Victor asked.

"Truth." She smiled.

The air suddenly grew cold around him momentarily as Victor shivered. He gulped, trying to think of a good question to ask her. "Umm... well-" Bart leaned over and whispered something in his ear. "BART! I'm not going to ask her that!"

"Oh come on, I know you're thinking it! Just grow a backbone and ask, I'm pretty sure we are all dying to know."

Victor blushed, trying to swallow the nervousness at the question. Yeah, he was pretty sure all the guys were wondering, but he was afraid of the answer. But he didn't have another thought, so he just went for it, attempting to make it a little less awkward. "So, ummm... Have you ever, you know... Umm... used your magic... to you know-" He raised his eyebrows, hoping she caught him meaning.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't understand, please speak clearly."

He sighed, finally just blurting it out, "Canorhaveyoureverusedyourmagictosuduceaguy?"

He frown turned into her signature beam. "Ah, yes, I can. And I guess I have." Smiled suggestively at the stunned men as Bart beamed.

Bart turned to Oliver. "Oh! I totally won that bet! Pay up bud!" Oliver sighed, forking over the cash.

Victor turned on Bart. "Seriously, that's why you wanted me to ask that!"

Bart just shrugged, counting his winnings. Before Victor could say anything, Zatanna spun the bottle. It stopped on Arthur or A.C., as he insisted on being called, had chosen dare. Zatanna, with her backwards speech, told him to spend five minutes in the ice freezer in the back. He came back, covered in a layer of frost.

Clark laughed, turning to him. "Let me heat you up A.C."

He turned on his heat vision, thawing him out quickly. A.C. shook it off, glad to be warm again. He spun, landing on Diana. Diana was dared to use her lasso on Bruce to get him to confess whether or not he actually liked the group. They had been asking him all week, but he just turned away in an aloof fashion at their prodding. Diana hesitated, not wanting to misuse her lasso. But after a second she pushed it aside, doing as they dared. Bruce confessed that he did have fun with the group, even if he acted grumpy most of the time.

Diana spun landing on Oliver. She grinned, looking between him and Chloe as Oliver chose dare. She had sensed their attraction for each other earlier in the week. "I dare you to kiss Chloe." She smirked.

Oliver's shock shone on his face as he turned slowly to Chloe. Chloe was glaring at Diana, clearly put off by her dare. Diana shrugged, motioning for her to pay attention to Oliver.

Oliver's mind was racing. "I can kiss Chloe. But Dinah's back... I just don't know how I feel about this. But I can kiss Chloe. Argh, forget this! I never back down from a challenge!" With that he got up and kissed her, not allowing himself to talk himself out of doing it.

Chloe's eyes widened at his sudden movement. Yet before she could even think of kissing back, he was done, sitting back down. She blushed deeply, turning away from Oliver so he couldn't see her deep embarrassment.

Lois snickered, clearly amused by that course of events. Chloe glared, a plan cooking in her mind. She leaned over to whisper something in her ear. Zatanna smiled, nodding her head as Lois looked on suspiciously. She really wasn't liking this Chloe that liked to make elaborate plans.

The game continued. Oliver daring Dinah to put on a Maid Marian costume he had told Bart to retrieve from his room- no, I mean the "Costume store close by." She obliged, slightly weirded out by the fact he knew where a Maid Marian costume was...

She spun and landed on Felicity who quickly fumbled out a soft "truth". Dinah smiled kindly and asked her, "So, have you ever hacked into government files?" She grinned, hoping it was an easy enough question.

Felicity's eyes widened as she reached for the shot glass in front of her. Everyone's eyebrows raised and she realized that option also gave her away. She sighed, stuck between a rock and a hard place. She swallowed loudly before confessing. "Ok, yes I have... I just wanted to see if I could do it." At their skeptical looks she continued, "Ok, so I got paid to look for some criminal records for a friends. I needed the money!" She glared at each of them in turn, embarrassed to have to reveal that.

"Wow. Who'd have thought she had it in her." Bruce growled.

Felicity spun the bottle, trying to distract them from her confession. It slowed to a halt in front of Clark. Clark opened his mouth to say dare but Chloe beat him to the punch. "Just pick truth. Don't make it too hard on Felicity."

Clark sighed, before turning back to Felicity. "Ok, truth."

Felicity thought for a second before blurting out the first question that came to her mind. "Are you really drunk?" She clamped her hand over her mouth, astounded that she had dared to ask. She suspected that he wasn't, but if she was right, Lois was going to be angry.

Clark's eyes widened in shock. "Crap." He thought, trying to think of a way out. He now knew how Felicity had felt. Taking the shot would only prove him guilty. "Fine, no. I can't get drunk." He gathered himself in preparation for the Lois hurricane.

"What! You mean I wasted an entire bottle of tequila on you! Man, I must be buzzed not to have realized it sooner!" She turned on Clark, pulling him till they were nose to nose.

Everyone held their breath, trying to figure out if Lois was going to kill him, or just kiss him. From their perspective, it could be either.

Clark stared into her eyes, fear evident on his face as he read the fiery anger within. His eyes widened further at her next words. "That's it, it's time for you to return to the original costume."

He scrambled for a way out. Anything to keep from those stupid underwear. "Lois, you promised me you wouldn't!" He pleaded, turning on the Kent puppy-dog eyes again.

She sucked in a breath, trying to stay strong against those stupid eyes. "Well, that's before I realized you couldn't get drunk!" she spat, wincing at his look of hurt.

"You never asked!" He shook his head in frustration, Then he turned on her. "Well, I guess you'll have to dare me then" He smirked, letting her know he wasn't going down that easily.

She smiled at the challenge. "Then I guess I'll just pray I get lucky."

Everyone sighed at their banter, tired of their obvious flirting neither one of them realized they were doing.

"Clark! It's your turn." Bart snapped.

He sent one last smirk to Lois before spinning. It landed on Bart. Bart grinned in anticipation. He opened his mouth to say dare.

"hturt yas"

"Truth." Bart said, sitting straighter. When it finally hit him what had happened, he turned on Zatanna. "Will you stop that! Every time! It's like you have something against me or something!"

Zatanna looked at him in confusion. "Why would I do that to you?"

Bart gave up, frustrated at being messed with once again by the magician. "Fine, truth... Whatever."

Chloe leaned over to Clark, whispering something in his ear. "Oh, I get it now!" He smiled at them. Then he turned on Bart, visibly curious. "So... What happened to cause you to be chased by tigers?"

Bart paled, reaching for the shot. Oliver cut him off, pulling the glass toward him. Everyone leaned in, eager to hear the reason why they had to round up tigers in the middle of the night.

Bart slouched, defeat on his face. "Fine. I'll tell you. You see, I was having a nice walk when I ran back into the group of theater girls who started chasing me. Then the wrestlers joined in. So I had to run at normal speeds away from them for the second time in a week. So I found and alley and took off.

"After a second I looked back to make sure I was safe and next thing I knew, I was heading straight for a wall! I tried to slow down and turn, but it was too late! But next thing I knew I was on the other side of the wall in just my boxers hanging from a tree in the tiger pit."

Everyone burst out laughing. "So it was the good ole Bart in a tree bit! I'm guessing the tigers used that hole in the wall to get away."

"Actually no. That's the weird part! I passed through the wall without hurting it. My clothes were still on the other side, but my boxers had come through. I don't know why, but thank goodness. Anyway, I didn't want to get caught, so I looked around for the exit. By the time I spotted it, the tree broke and I landed on a tiger who did not appreciate my wake up call. The rest of the pack woke up as well. They stated circling me so I headed towards the gate. By the time I got it open, they jumped me to get out! Then they chased me all the way back to campus because I kept running into people who saw me so I couldn't superspeed! So there, now you know..."

Everyone just kept staring at him, still trying to process the whole "I moved through a wall without putting a hole in it" part. "Well now we know how shorty gets in our room, huh Clark." Oliver joked.

"Are we sure Bart's the best person to have the power to move through things? I mean... He's bad enough as is!" Clark added.

"It's not like I can control it... Yet. And I wouldn't do that to y'all!" He huffed, his arms crossed in indignation. "Often." He amended under his breath.

"Bart... Really? Superhearing, remember?"

"Crap... Don't tell them!" Bart turned to Clark, begging with his eyes.

Clark rolled his eyes, gesturing to the bottle. "Well, get a move on!"

Bart spun the bottle, landing on Bruce who chose dare.

"Ok, go into Dinah's room without alerting her roommate and to return with a pair of her underwear- wait, No a picture! I promise I meant a picture!" Bart amended under the dangerous glare of Dinah.

Bruce left them, disappearing into the shadows. He returned a few minutes later with a picture of her as a child. Every clapped at his quick return as Oliver huffed something about being able to do it faster.

Bruce just silently sat down, spinning and landing on Chloe. smiled politely saying, "Truth."

Bruce thought for a minute, trying to think of something good. "What's the craziest thing you've done?"

She blushed, "Um... That I remember... Or that I don't?"

Clark chuckled, making a list of all the possibilities.

"Um... Either or I guess."

"Well... I have to admit from what Clark told me, I went a little crazy with that parasite that was in the caves. Me and Pete were gonna drive a car off a cliff to get a rush. Then of course is the time with the love potion the cheerleaders put in the sports drink. I became Clark's devoted cheerleader and I might have made a few, umm... awkward advances. Or maybe that time when Dawn possessed me at prom. Of course it was more of a shock when she took over Clark..."

She stopped, realizing a little too late that she was rambling and giving up way too much information. She hid her discomfort by guzzling down some more beer.

Before spinning the next round she looked at Zatanna who nodded just a fraction. She smiled and spun. It landed unerringly on Lois. Lois, fearful of nothing, looked her cousin straight in the eye. "Dare." She said, in a declaration of war.

Chloe smiled, her plan working perfectly. "Glad you're so enthusiastic! I hope you don't chicken out of this one." She grinned at Lois's suspicious glare. "I dare you to take Clark into the pantry for a minimum of 5 minutes. You have to kiss him before you can come out. Zatanna if you please."

"selur eht era eseht"

Lois's eyes were huge as she glanced at Clark. "Man, I can't back down... But this is embarrassing! I mean, he's Clark! It is a dream of mine to kiss him but this feels too soon. I don't even know how he feels about me. Oh, what the heck, I'll just go for it." Her thoughts raced as she made up her mind.

Without saying anything she grabbed the collar of Clark's shirt and pulled him towards the pantry. She glared at Chloe on her way pass, letting her know that retribution was going to be sweet.

They left the group who sat in silence, awkwardness coloring in the air.

"I bet that it takes 5 minutes for them to get up the courage to kiss and then they'll be in ther for an additional 20." Bart grinned, placing down a twenty.

"Nuh uh Bart. Clark's stubborn. I say it'll be 8 minutes and 15." Oliver grinned, also placing down a twenty.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "2 and 45 at the least. There's a lot of sexual tension." She grinned, also putting in.

Everyone laughed, waiting patiently for the telltale signs from the other side of the pantry door.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:** Hey guys, I just wanted to thank y'all once again for all the reading and reviewing. Y'all are really awesome guys! I am finally finishing the Fiesta and will be moving onto bigger and more chaotic things. Just a preview for ideas of the future. Classic Loisness. The appearance of the ever faithful J'onn J'onzz and of course Carter and Shayera Hall. And don't forget we have to have a sick day for Clarkie. He's gotta get superbreath somehow.

* * *

Chapter 14: The Fiesta Finale: Cops and Robbers

"Clark! You stepped on my toe!"

"Well Sorry! There's not much room in this pantry."

Lois and Clark were standing as far away as possible in the tiny pantry. Of course that wasn't saying much considering as far away as possible meant they were also extremely close together. They had only shut the door 30 seconds ago, but the tension was already in the air. They had five minutes to figure out how they were gonna get this kiss over with.

"Calm down Lois. It's just Clark. Just handsome, sexy, stro- no, just _Smallville_. It'll just be a quick peck on the lips and then it's over and we can get out of this stupid closet! Woah, stop it Lois. No freaking out, even if its internally. Clark can probably smell fear... I mean I wouldn't put it past him." Lois's mind raced with her nervousness.

Clark, however, wasn't much better. "Why oh why did Chloe do this to me! I know she wants to torture Lois, but seriously! Way to kick a man while he's down! Lois doesn't even like me. Yeah we get along in the friends that banter category and she is cute, but I have gotten no indication that she likes me as anything more than a friend. This'll just be really awkward. Dang it! If Zatanna hadn't put that spell on us I would have just waltz right out of here already."

Lois started impatiently tapping her foot, trying to make up her mind. "Get it over with, or deal with more super uncomfortable silence... I hate Uncomfortable silence! Fine, I'm done waiting. Plus he is driving me crazy with how close he is! Ugh."

"I really need to get this over with! All this touching going on right now is not helping my thought processes. I really just need to get this over with, then we can get out of here when the time runs out and I can go hide in a hole for a week." Clark turned towards Lois, trying to think of something to say.

"Hey Smallville. We might as well get this over with. I mean we have nowhere to go and nothing else to do so-"

Clark's frustration had finally hit a peak. Something about the dismissive tone in her voice got to him, making him snap. Ignoring the last of his nagging voices in his head he grabbed her chin, lowering his lips to hers. Her eyes widened in anticipation as he brought their lips together.

The tension in the air dissipated as they kissed. Something about it was just, right. It started off soft and timid, but soon grew into something more passionate. Clark assaulted her lips, as she responded in kind. Their frustrations came to a front until-

The lights went out.

Not that Lois and Clark noticed immediately. They did, however, notice the huge thud on the other side of the door seconds later when a very large object hit it.

* * *

Chloe was collecting the pot as she was the only one to guess the starting time of two minutes on the dot correctly. Everyone looked on in suspicion as she counted her winnings, proud of what she had won.

She didn't have long to celebrate though. The breaker busted, leaving the entire party in darkness. "Oliver, whats-"

"Get down! Everybody!" Oliver yelled, moving to cover Chloe and Felicity.

Five people broke through the window then, shattering glass on the occupants of the cafe. Bruce threw out a few baterings, catching one of the men in the leg, causing him to wince in pain, suddenly targeting Bruce. He dodged the man's punch, sending a few quick jabs to key pressure points in an attempt to down him. The man was slightly slowed, but still showed signs of fight. Bruce took out his taser and sent it straight to the guys spinal column, effectively knocking him out.

One went after Bart, attempting to catch him off guard, but he just dodged, leaving them to stumble in the dark. Victor took that opportunity to punch the guys lights out, sending him crashing into the pantry door.

The third threw a couple of knives at Oliver who managed to dodge one, but the other one got lodged in his leg as he moved to it wouldn't hit Chloe. Dinah quickly pulled out the knife, throwing it at their attacker. It was buried into the man's shoulder. Bart and A.C. tag teamed to punch the guy simultaneously in the head. However, this had little effect as he grabbed the two by their wrists and threw them across the room. Zatanna glared at him saying, "leets yb dnoub". The chains that were keeping the back gated locked and a couple of pipes sped over and bound the man, effectively stopping him.

The forth was a woman who drew a couple of swords from her back. She prepared to lunge for the group, but Diana met her halfway. She blocked the strokes with her bracelets, parrying her blow for blow. When she saw an opening, she punched her, sending her crashing into the counter.

The final man caught Dinah as she ran to help her comrades and held her in a body lock with a sword held straight across her throat. Everyone froze as they saw this, no one daring to move a muscle. At that moment, Clark and Lois finally opened the door.

* * *

Clark reached for the knob, trying to open it. It gave way as the last few seconds of the five minutes passed and they were released from Zatanna's spell. What they found, was shocking to say the least. Before them was a frozen scene. There were five people in the room. Three of them were out cold and one was struggling against what looked like a punch of pipes and chains. Another man stood in the center of the scene with Dinah in his grasp and a sword at her throat. They all had double sided masks with one side Black, the other side orange. They also wore black combat like uniforms with orange accents.

Without even giving the man time to register that the door had opened, Clark had broken the man's swords and held him pin down to the floor. Dinah stumbled away, trying to reclaim her breath.

"Show off." Bruce muttered as everyone tried to get over their shock.

Diana walked over to Oliver and Chloe to assess the damage. "I am sorry, I had to get the knife out quick so I could have something... I forgot to bring my own." She helped him get to his feet.

"Owe, ah... Thanks Diana. That's probably going to be sore for a while, but I think I can manage. I should be fine. Are you ok, Chloe?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Chloe smiled sheepishly at him.

"Eh hem. Anyway who're the creeps?" Lois interrupted.

Oliver looked them over. "Well, that one's Slade." He indicated to the one trapped under Clark.

"And I'm guessing the wannabe look alikes are his minions. Or army. Or whatever." Bart quipped.

"What's your game." Bruce growled at Slade.

Everyone winced at his harsh tone. Note to self: Don't let Bruce interrogate you. Ever.

Slade chuckled. "I'm keeping my promise." He sneered.

Oliver winced, now deeply concerned. "This isn't going to stop him. He's gonna come after all of us. He's gonna destroy everything I care about and that includes you guys."

"You got that right pal. I will make you pay for what you did to me. For killing Shadow! You will know what it's like to feel despair." He struggled against Clark, attempting to break free from his grip.

"Oh, no. You're not going anywhere." Clark grinned, slamming him slightly into the ground. "Anyway, what are we gonna do about them?"

"How about torture?"

"Bart!"

"What? I think it's a solid idea right now!" He frowned.

Diana rolled her eyes. "Perhaps I could be of service. We need to be able to contain him, correct? And from what I have ascertained from fighting these men is that they are above average human strength. Perhaps I can convince my people to retain them in cells on my island until we can find a proper place to serve them Justice. We can't just hand them over to the police because they would not be able to contain them." She really didn't want to go back to the island and explain this to her brethren, but she felt that this was the best choice for the moment.

Slade scoffed. "Nice try, but I won't be going anywhere anytime soon. This is just the beginning." Smoke covered the room, blocking their eyesight. Clark was caught off guard as Slade flipped underneath him, using his whole body to move Clark off. Clark moved on reflex, allowing him up. By the time the smoke had cleared, they were gone. Clark couldn't even hear a whisper from them.

"Dang it! Now we're gonna have to catch them all over again!" Bart pouted.

Everyone hung their heads as fatigue crept in.

"Well as much as this real live game of cops and robbers was fun, I think we should be heading home now. We can research, brainstorm, and plan on a different day." Lois broke the silence as she yawned.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Clark added, sending a relieved smile to Lois. At least she wasn't too shaken up by all the excitement.

Everyone else nodded and after a quick Clark, Bart, and Diana clean up, they were on their way to bed.

* * *

He looked down at his desk in disgust. It really must be boring in Smallville if he was taking his time to just sit in his office. He sighed, instinctively knowing exactly why it was so dull.

Clark wasn't there anymore. Excitement followed Clark like the plague. And if he followed Clark, he could live in that excitement. He had to wonder what was up with the plain Jane farmboy that attracted that much mayhem. But he was long over that... At least for now.

Clark was taking a backseat to the new revelation concerning an _old friend_. Oliver Queen. His early rival among the wealthy. He finally returned from the dead after being shipwrecked. Guess dreams never do come true.

But was even stranger was the man that was after him. Slade Wilson. Ex-Australian Special Ops soldier that was now after Oliver's blood. He had stumbled on him as he wondered the globe, trying to regain his strength after his last mishap with Oliver. He had graciously taken him under his wing and given him the resources to create an army.

He had created duplicates of whatever serum was in his blood, held back a few samples for himself and gave the rest to Slade. Slade in turn had created an army to follow him. Being the cautious type, he had engineered a cure as well for the serum in hopes to reign in the beast if he should venture too far out of his control.

He sighed, looking again at the list of Oliver's friends his spies had observed. Clark was at the top of his list as his roommate. Typical. Perhaps now he could answer a few of his questions though. Chloe was also on the list, which seemed right considering her and the farmboy were inseparable. Victor Stone was also on the list, but that also did not surprise him. He was an anomaly, so naturally he would travel in Clark's circles. He couldn't concentrate on him though, he had future plans for him.

The rest of the list was just a bunch of names: Bart Allen, Lois Lane. Felicity Smoak, Arthur Curry, Dinah Lance, Diana Prince... and Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne: billionaire playboy that could give Oliver a run for his money in the annoyance department. He had had many business dealings with Wayne, and each one had left him utterly infuriated. However, he wasn't his target. One plot at a time.

The door to his office opened then, footsteps quickly gathering in the room. "Yes? What do you have to report?"

"The attack was a failure, Mr. Luthor. We attempted to take them while they were having a party, but we were quickly overpowered. They fought well for college kids. Some of them also appeared to be inhumanly fast. We will have to pick them off one by one." Lex turned to see one of the soldiers addressing him.

Slade pushed him aside, striding up to Lex's desk. "Would have been nice to know what we were up against. You gave them my souvenir, but you never told us what to expect. This was a trial to see what they were made of, wasn't it."

Lex smirked, glad someone was smarter than he appeared. "Yes, it was. And I agree, you will have to take them apart one by one. But you won't be alone. I have a few more ally's to help us meet our ends. In truth, if you had succeeded, I would have needed none of them."

Slade's eye narrowed. "And why is that?"

"You simply proved a theory I've had for a long time. You may make whatever plans you see fit for Oliver and his torture, but I do have one request."

"And that is?"

"If you can, capture Clark Kent and bring him to me. It's about time I beat a few secrets out of him." He sneered.

Slade nodded. "I'll see what I can do." And with that he left, already making plans for his next attempt.

Lex watched them leave, smirking. Oliver really had done him a favor. Though he had failed in his revenge (for now) he finally had his answers. Mysterious things happened around Clark and if those 12 kids could defeat 5 super human lethal weapons to the point they retreated, something was definitely up. Now all he had to do was get a hold of Clark and beat the answers out of him. Simple enough when he had his own army.

He picked up his phone, dialing a familiar number. "Yes, this is Lex Luthor. I'm calling to speak to Merlyn. Uh huh, yes. I have a message for Ra's Al Ghul."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Counseling

"OK, seriously Lois! You have been avoiding us all for like a week!" Chloe slammed down her bag on the table next to Lois.

Lois flinched, a painful smile stretching across her face. "No, really? I wasn't trying to! I've just been really busy and I hav-"

"Oh can it. I don't have time for excuses. The one time I did see you, you stayed for maybe three seconds when Clark walked through the door and you ran faster than Bart during a burrito run!" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Then a smile broke across her face, leaving Lois very nervous. "I get it now. It was a steamy little meeting you had in the pantry... And you felt something! You don't just like Clark do you!"

"What? No! It was... It was just a kiss! Totally just attraction, nothing deeper." She blushed deeply at the memory of that kiss. Oh yeah, it was definitely attraction, but there was something more going on and it scared her.

"Nope, you won't fool me. I'm your cousin! You jump the bones of attraction. You run away from your actual feelings! You're worse than the ever brooding Clark!"

"Ah-Uh-No! I am not running away! I just need some space... I mean, Argh! Nothing's going on Chloe!" She glared at her cousin, clearly saying "topic closed".

Chloe sighed. "Fine, you just keep believing that and lying to yourself. But just so you know, avoiding the problem just hurts you, both of you. I have never seen Clark so broken up just because someone refused to talk to him. I mean this is the worst brood session ever. Just please think this all the way through before you throw away something special." Her eyes pleaded silently with her stubborn cousin.

Lois sighed, "Fine."

Chloe smiled a little and squeezed her cousin's hand in comfort. "Now I have to get to class. I'm late because I knew this was the only chance I was going to get to talk to you alone. See ya later Lo."

"Yeah bye." Lois waved after her. She was once again alone in the cafe.

Rosy came over and sat down, looking at Lois who was adamantly ignoring her, drinking her coffee. After a second she couldn't hold it in any longer. "What do you want Rosy?"

"Oh I thought I would just take a second to see how you were doing. You've been avoiding people like the plague." She smiled.

"Yeah, well maybe that's for a reason." Lois snapped back.

"Ok, I give in. I won't bother you. But I must say I'm a tiny bit disappointed _Lane._ I just thought you never ran from a fight. And don't you know love is war." She got up, heading towards the kitchen. "Oh, and just a quick word of advice. When I get really bugged down, I go see the artifacts in the archeology department. I know it sounds strange, but I often find I can answer the questions I didn't even know I had there." She left Lois alone with her thoughts and that very cryptic message.

* * *

Diana returned to her dorm room, stretching her arms a little. Oliver had shown them his hidden training ground and she had just gotten back from a pretty good work out. She and Bruce had been sparring. She had one, of course, but he had been a very unpredictable opponent. Every move had a purpose and he wasted no excess energy. He was truly lethal.

She sighed, taking off her gym clothes. She had worn her Amazonian armor underneath her clothes, drawing comfort from its familiarity. She sighed, pulling out more clothes from her closet.

A small whisper of a thud sounded behind her as she whirled, blocking a sword with her bracelets.

"Nice move there princess. Oh and nice armor, you into cosplay or something?" The girl in the orange and black mask was back, grinning at her prey.

Dianna scoffed. "Hardly, but if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Well good thing I don't care then. I'm just here for revenge. This time I'll be the one kicking your butt." She grinned before taking out her other sword, dashing it into Diana side where it clanged off her armor.

Diana moved into action quickly throwing her swords aside, using the opening to throw a series of jabs into her stomach. The girl lept away, landing on the bed, crouching to get ready.

Diana stood tall, authority dripping from her stance. "I am Diana Prince, Amazonian Warrior. Who do I owe the pleasure of this fight to?"

The girl sighed, annoyed by the girl's mightier than thou attitude. "They call me Ravager. And it won't be a pleasure much longer." With that she launched herself at Diana, aiming to kill.

Diana jumped up, slamming her fists into Ravager's back, thrusting her into the floor. She rolled, swiping at Diana from below. Her swords connected with Diana's leg, leaving a gash.

"Sheesh, looks like someone's a little special. That should have sliced your leg off. Looks like this'll be a lot funner than I originally thought." She grinned wickedly, readjusting herself.

Diana looked back over the girl. She knew that she must have superhuman strength to have left a mark in her skin. She would have to be careful. She braced herself as Ravager took another swipe at her legs, trying to deepen the gash. Diana jumped once again, but this time she landed on the girl's left wrist, attempting to hurt it enough to stop her swords.

Ravager twisted, kicking Diana off her wrist. She stood, wincing at the pain. It was at least sprained, probably broken. She sneered, sheathing the sword in that hand. She paused, analyzing Diana's weak points before jumping up, flipping around in the air.

Diana was already ready for her. She waited for her to land before punching her in the stomach. This knocked the breath out of her, leaving her dazed. Diana took this opportunity to bring her fists down upon her head, knocking her out cold.

Realizing she wouldn't be out for too long she tied her up with the ropes she could find. Then she dragged her out of her now shredded room and towards Zatanna's. She would have a good way to bind her more securely till she could inform Clark of the news.

* * *

Lois walked into the archeology department's archives. It was pretty quiet in there, allowing her to think in peace. Rosy was right, it was a pretty good place to think.

She looked at the artifacts around her. Most of them were from Egypt. She saw hieroglyph after hieroglyph of the story of what looked to be a man who was both a bird and a man. They were preserved nicely, showing the extreme care someone had taken to preserve them.

As she looked from each story to the next she became lost in her own thoughts instead. Who was she to look for a relationship with a man who was pretty much a god. He could do anything he wanted, yet he chooses to stay on earth and protect those he loves, or anyone else he feels he should. He was a good heartened man, just trying to find his place in the world while simultaneously trying to save it. He had a much bigger destiny that her own and she didn't want to, no couldn't hold him back. She may have felt that something stirring inside of her, but she would just kill it. She had to! He couldn't be bothered with her, a mere mortal. How could he ever feel the way that she felt about him.

She sighed before banging her head on a display case. "Oh how in the world did I end up in this mess. And it's barely two weeks into school!"

A chuckled sounded behind her, causing Lois to whip around in confusion. Before her stood a beautiful lady with smooth tan skin. Her hair shown as a brown, almost red color. She smiled at Lois, showing her hands in surrender.

Lois was confused at the gesture until she realized that she had inadvertently moved into a defensive stance. She relaxed, smiling in turn. "Umm, I totally thought I was down here alone."

"And were surprised to hear you were not. It's ok child, why don't we sit in the lounge area over here. You seem as if you need to voice those thoughts swirling in your mind." She led Lois to a set of couches in a remote corner of the archives. "Not many people come here so it is often a place of peace."

Lois sat, looking at the woman warily. "Look, I'm not too comfortable with spilling my guts to anyone-"

"But wouldn't be nice to discuss your troubles with a stranger? Then it will remain anonymous, you do not even need to tell me your name." She smiled, her eyes full of compassion.

Lois hesitated. _Ok, I can keep this inside until I jump the idiot, or I can talk this out and actually figure my issues out._ With that thought she decided to talk to this mysterious woman.

"Yeah, um... I just don't know how to start." She blushed.

The lady just smiled. "It's ok child. The emotions you are feeling cannot possibly voiced effectively. Just do the best you can."

Lois narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't happen to have talked to a Rosy Williams have you?"

"Who?"

"Nosy girl, ridiculously tall for a girl, brown hair and a blue streak in her hair? She also has a knack for saying the most appropriate things that coincide with your thoughts?"

"I have never spoken to a girl of that description but I have seen one like that that has come here to contemplate. She appears to be quite perceptive." She smiled in encouragement, glad Lois was talking smoothly.

"You can say that again. Ok, now I'm trusting that you're not cohorts with that girl." She paused and watched the lady nod. "Ok, here goes. I just don't know what to do right now. I literally fell in love within 5 seconds of looking at this guy. I don't believe in love at first sight, but something was different about this guy. Then I actually got to meet and talk to him and I found out I actually like him! I mean we are really close friends, in secret, but we are always arguing and are always at each other's throats. I like it cuz it's a challenge, but that doesn't bode well on the romantic side of things. He probably hates me because I pick on him all the time." She paused, gauging the lady's reaction.

The lady was intrigued by this girl's stubbornness. She had obviously put a lot of thought into this. When she paused, she decided it was time to start by working on her denial. "So you're saying you thought this was just a physical attraction, but now you think it's more than that, at least for you. You like that he challenges you and puts you out of your element."

"Wait, no! It's purely physical attraction. I mean I like him a little, but most of it is just our chemistry."

The lady's eyes seemed to pierce her soul, uncovering her lie. "Ok, ok! So I like his personality. The body's just the icing on the cake! Ah!" Lois pouted.

The lady smiled, "Yes, then you cannot overlook him." At Lois's confused look she elaborated. "You said love at first sight, but after meeting him you felt so much more. It is rare that anyone can feel this deeply about someone after just a week. Yet you are being careful, guarding your heart. Most that discover this kind of attraction give into it immediately, giving themselves over to what is truly just lust. They don't take time to think about anything real in the relationship like their personality. Then when the lust dies down they find they know nothing about their partner and in truth may even hate them. If you are at each other's throats already and you still say you love him then this is huge. You have admitted his faults and still like him. He's a true love, not something fake. He challenges you. You are equals."

Lois was smiling until that last sentence. "And there's the other part of my dilemma. He has a destiny that is far greater than my own. He's headed to a place where I can't stay with him. I'll just hold him back from that destiny. I can't live like that!" Her heart sank at her own words.

The lady smiled sadly. "I see. You lack conviction to your own destiny. The woman who sent you here, she perceives much. Yes?" Lois nodded. "Then she must have sent you here for a reason. Many people wonder into the archives, but few ever make it back here. That's why it's such a perfect thinking space. Something about this place just repels those who have their answers and invites those trying to find destiny. Just from talking to you for a short while, I can tell you that you have a great destiny. You have a large compassion for people and a hunger for the truth. You are also a force of reinforcement for those who are second guessing themselves, believing in them absolutely. That strength shines in your eyes, especially when you speak of this man. His destiny may be great, but I feel as if you are part of that destiny. You will bring forth the strength even he does not know he has. You must stand by his side. If this is so strong to you, then it must be to him as well. This type of love is binding. It ties destiny together."

Lois stared at her, awestruck. But doubt filled her again.

Seeing this the lady continued. "How about I tell you a story. This happened long ago in ancient Egypt. There was an Egyptian prince named Khufu who was married to the princess Chay-Ara. They had found true love together, a destiny binding love. Unfortunately their kingdom came under attack. They fought valiantly for their kingdom's defense, but at a price. A man by the name of Hath-Set came and cursed them, dooming their existence. They would die and reincarnate over and over, always dying as they reached the peak of their love. They have been doomed to this reality as they reincarnate to find each other, only to lose each other in death once again."

"That was a terrible and sad love story." Lois commented.

"I like it." Came a gruff voice from behind. A man with a scruffy beard walked up and sat next to the lady. "After all, it's a story of a true love that continues to burn bright and overcome as their lives continue on." He smiled down at the lady.

Lois paused, contemplating his words. Could she be the same source of strength for Clark as Chay-Ara was to Khufu? It would have been easy to break the cycle by just refusing to fall in love, but they refused to. They just kept falling in love. That was strength in itself. After all it takes more strength to stick around for destiny than to just run away. Maybe she had that strength as well.

Lois stood, smiling down at the couple. "Thank you, I think I know what I have to do. I'm Lois Lane by the way."

"It's a pleasure. I'm Shayera Hall and this is my husband, Carter. We are archeology teachers in this department. If you ever need anything dear, just come visit us. We'll be glad to help with anything." She smiled, as she and Carter shook Lois's hand.

Lois left, feeling as if she had just heard a very personal story.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Plan of action

Clark set the coffee back down on the counter with a sigh. Lois had been avoiding him for a week. A week! It felt like an eternity to him. He had never felt this out of whack just not talking to someone. He had even found a new "brooding ground" (as Chloe called it) on the roof of the dorm.

Yet he could do nothing about the silence that enveloped him. Well not exactly silence. He had an unnatural knack for hearing Lois's heartbeat and he did so both consciously and unconsciously. Of course that just made him think she had turned him into a stalker to.

He sighed, trying to reorientate his thoughts again. He had called, texted, even tried cornering her, but she somehow just kept avoiding him. It was as if she knew exactly where he was just like he knew about her. It was so frustrating.

Rosy leaned over the counter, catching Clark's attention. "You too huh? What exactly happened at that party that has both you and miss loudmouth running marathons in that brain of yours?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't you already know?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I do. But do you?" He looked up, surprised. "Just let it out. You can think better out loud." Rosy encouraged.

He took a deep breath, knowing that this was a one shot chance. He couldn't back out now. "Ok, but you are sworn to secrecy." He smiled as she made a show of zipping her mouth before saluting. "As you have already guessed, I like Lois. A lot. Maybe more than like. We were playing truth or dare at the party last Friday and we got dared to go into a closet and to not come out until we kissed. She was supposedly supposed to kiss me since it was her dare, but I kinda snapped and you know, instigated."

Clark paused, his cheeks turning red at the memory. Rosy took the chance. "Nice one! Way to lay one on her! Bet she wasn't even expecting it." She grinned in encouragement.

He nodded, dazed. "Well then we got interrupted when we were all attacked by Slade. Ever since she's been avoiding me! What if- what if it was too soon? Or maybe she hated it? I mean we argue a lot even if we have established a secret friendship. I bet she hates me. I thought she liked me during that kiss, but her reaction to it was to hightail it to the woods." He grunted, once again lost in thought.

Rosy rolled her eyes, less than amused. They're two peas in a pod. "Clark seriously? Lois is a stand and fight kind of girl, but more than likely her biggest fear is her heart. You've known each other for two weeks and already you have an earth shattering connection that's hard to understand or grasp. She's trying to clear her head and figure this all out. Plus I can guarantee she does not hate you."

Clark looked up at her then, raising his eyebrow for her to elaborate. "Well, when most of us are young and in elementary school, the little boys pick on the little girls they like. They pull their hair, poke fun at them, etc. And that's all to catch their attention! It's like second nature to most people! She pushes your buttons and you can't help but push back. You two call it bantering, but the rest of us see it for what it truly is: flirting. Plus, from what I can deem she kissed you back. A lot. You don't have that kind of reaction if you hate someone. Trust me, she likes you." Rosy ended with a smirk.

Clark mulled that over as she walked away. Lois liked him. That was huge! I mean, he could finally ask her out like he had been dying to do. Well... If she ever showed her face again. He sighed, once again missing the rowdy brunette.

BAM!

The screen door flew open to the cafe, causing Clark to turn cautiously. There, out-of-breath and kinda sweaty, stood just the girl he was thinking about. Speak of the devil.

He glanced around, noticing that the cafe was eerily empty and Rosy was nowhere to be found. He turned back to Lois, only to notice a look of extreme concentration on her face. She looked like she was about to kill him.

He gulped sitting straighter in the bar stool, his senses on full alert in case she did try to kill him. She stalked forth slowly, every step looking as if it took her entire will to move forward. She drew nearer and nearer and even though he was frightened for his life, something in him was just overjoyed that she was right there, almost close enough to touch.

Lois stopped, arms length away from him. Her teeth gritted as she attempted to speak. Then her eyes widened as if in an epiphany and-

She just sighed, her head lowering as she began to walk away.

Clark couldn't take it anymore. She had come in here with something on her mind and right when he thought she was gonna let it out, she was walking away! He grabbed her arm, whirling around so she would face him. Her eyes widened at his intense glare.

Lois had been so focused on her goal as she had tried and failed to say what she wanted that she never noticed how Clark had been looking at her. She didn't notice the fear and anticipation in his eyes. The softness when she drew near. However she was noticing it now as she looked straight into his glare. Though the annoyance was front and center along with a little amusement, there was also his immense compassion showing in their depths. That was all she needed to gain the courage for her next words.

"I like you." She covered her mouth with her free hand. She had not been meaning to say that! That was like the last part of the huge speech she had prepared! What if this was too soon or-

"Lois did you even hear me?" Clark said, grabbing her attention again.

She looked up, confused.

He snorted. "Figures. You know, you really need to listen to me every once and a while." He smirked.

Lois frowned, less than amused. "Yeah, well I got a lot of things running through my head! You just needed to be more upfront and forthright to catch my attention, Smallville."

"Fine, how's this for upfront and forthright." and with that, he kissed her.

She gave in immediately. Her long absence from him having long destroyed any defenses against Clark. He pulled away after a minute, his forehead touching hers slightly as they breathed heavily together.

"Seems there is a way to shut you up and get you to pay attention." Lois just blushed. Smiling at her reaction he continued. "And I said, I like you too."

She beamed, before kissing him with passion.

* * *

"Ravager has yet to return."

Slade stood up straighter, turning to his informant. "I see... She must have failed in her mission. No matter, we must continue. We have to discover their week points. How are the scouts?"

The informant hesitated, but only for a second. "They have yet to find the group's weakest link. They are looking for the group's training grounds to gain more information, but they have yet to be able to follow a target to their goal. All tracking devises have been mysteriously discovered and dismantled. Also, we have been running into China White and her force."

Slade turned his head slightly, clearly displeased with the report. "Seems as if the Triad is getting in our way. Well, that is slightly good news. It means Lex has been unable to mobilize the League of Assassins. As long as they don't realize Bruce Wayne and Dinah Lance are here, we may play havoc here. Sometimes it amazes me just what naive little Lex doesn't realize."

"Reports have come in that he is looking into 'compensation' for their services. They want a rare artifact for their work. Once he uncovers it, they will help him meet his ends."

Slade thought for a moment. "Perhaps I am underestimating the boy. He does have good business sense. He must be playing some kind of angle. Be wary of any contact Lex has in the underworld. Inform me of all his activity. I must not allow him the upper hand just because he appears naive. I may have my own agenda, but he has his."

With that the informant left Slade with just his thoughts. _"If you can, capture Clark Kent and bring him to me. It's about time I beat a few secrets out of him."_ Just what is it about this Clark Kent that peaks Lex Luthor's interests? He had seen firsthand how strong that boy was. If he played this right, he might be in for some major money. He grinned, excited of the prospect of both revenge and riches.

* * *

Diana burst through the door to the cafe. She froze at the sight before her though. Clark and Lois were all alone in the restaurant, in the middle of a serious lip-lock. Her face heated up, a blush coloring her cheeks.

"Uh, Umm... Excuse me?" Diana said, averting her eyes as she tried to catch their attention.

They jumped, putting a good 5 feet between them. Clark was smiling sheepishly at Diana while Lois glared angrily.

Diana ignored Lois, focusing on telling Clark about Ravager.

"Sorry to interrupt... Clark, I-uh- captured Ravager when she attacked me in my dorm room. Zatanna is currently holding her so that we may question her."

Lois's eyes widened. "What Ravager... Who's that?"

"The woman that was with Slade when he ambushed us."

"I see well, we had better get over there. You have your Lasso right Diana?" Diana nodded to Clark. "Ok, good. We may need it if she refuses to answer.

They all headed up to Zatanna's room. She opened the door revealing a girl restrained in chains to a metal chair. Zatanna smiled at their arrival.

"I took the liberty to suggest to my roommate to avoid this room for a while. She shouldn't interrupt. Please, make yourselves at home." She gestured to the bed opposite the prisoner.

Her room had the feeling of mystery stamped on it. There were magic show posters everywhere, Some of them were Zatanna's shows and a few were her father's. On her bookshelf where multiple old books that looked suspiciously like actual spell books. She also had you odds and ends magic equipment around the room. You almost couldn't tell that two people lived there.

The woman started to strain against the chains when she caught sight of Diana. "Let me out of here and you won't be so lucky the next time." She spat.

Lois's eyes flashed. She stalked right up to Ravager pulling her up by her collar with one hand while steadying her chair with the other. Ravager's eyes widened at Lois's demon glare. "You are in no position to be making threats right now. If you even think about attacking Diana again, I won't care if you and Diana are both stronger than me. I will come after you and tear you limb from limb. You are going to wish Diana was the one to find you. You had the gall to actually attack my friends and I don't take kindly to that." She spat. Her eyes left no room for doubt at her seriousness.

Diana looked at Clark. "You realize you are in love with a monster right. I don't even think that you can stop her if she really wants to kill you."

Clark sighed looking at her. "Yeah, but unfortunately that's what makes her so adorable. However, if I play my cards right she won't kill me because she'll be too busy kissing me." He smirked slightly.

Lois turned, her eyes sparking menacingly. "Or maybe not. Maybe she'll just kill me."

Zatanna burst out laughing, causing them all to look at her awkwardly. "What? I thought it was amusing." She smirked.

Diana got back to the task at hand. "Ok Ravager, what's your real name?"

"Like I'd tell you." She growled.

Diana frowned; maybe she should use the lasso. She pulled it off her belt, walking slowly behind her. "Sorry about this, but I don't have time to play games with you, Ravager." She looped it securely around her.

Ravager's eyes glazed over as her eyelids fluttered. Diana smiled, "Let's try this again. What's your real name?"

"Rose Wilson."

"Good, now why is Slade attacking us?"

Ravager smirked slightly. "He's fulfilling his promise to Oliver Queen. Oliver took away everything Slade cared for, and now he will take everything away from Oliver."

They all looked at each other, nodding. Oliver had warned them about his promise for not saving Shadow.

Lois piped up next. "Is Slade working with anyone?"

Ravager grimaced a little. "He is."

"Who and why?"

"I don't know the man's name. He's a wealthy billionaire in Metropolis. Slade never let me go to the meetings with him. Apparently he's the man that found Slade and helped him to perfect the serum to create an army. He is helping fund our revenge against Oliver. Apparently he also has a vendetta against him."

They all stared at each other. Clark could come up with only two names that it could be. Lionel Luthor and Lex Luthor. One had taken a turn to the "kinder side" recently while Clark's once brother had been dealing in increasingly sketchy dealings.

"What are the orders for the army right now?" Clark asked.

Ravager turned to look at him. "We are to attack our targets individually. We need to try and find their weak points to take out the group as a whole. A group is searching for the training ground they often frequent to try and assess their individual fighting skills. Another group is identifying the foreign group that has been watching our targets. If we can, we are to capture Clark Kent alive. Also, Oliver is off limits to anyone but Slade." She finished it like she was barking orders to them.

"The foreign group. Wait! Who's the other group that's been watching us?" Lois asked.

Ravager blinked slowly. "All I've heard is that it's a group led by China White."

* * *

They all huddled around the table in the cafe.

Dinah recognized the woman's name, "China White... She's part of the Triad."

Oliver looked up, thinking slowly. "If that's true, I can probably find something out through the Russian Mafia Channels."

"You're still friends with that guy?" Dinah asked.

"Yeah. When you save someone's life it's hard not to be friends." He smirked. "I can go this weekend and visit him to see what we are dealing with. They always keep tabs on the Triad's movements."

"Sounds great. We'll just get a team together to go talk to them. Where's your friend located?" Bruce asked.

"Oh, in Russia." They all just stared at him. "What! I know Russian. I can get us around no problem."

Bruce sighed. "Well since it is Russia, I suggest we take about 4 people. And not Bart." He intercepted Bart as he was just about to open his mouth, causing the kid to pout.

Dinah chuckled. "Well if I may, I suggest that me, Bruce, and Diana go with Oliver. Bruce and I have a lot of dealings with the underworld and Diana can take care of herself. Plus she'll probably get us more access to places then I can. I would have suggested Clark, but he radiates bumbling farmboy and that's an easy target for mobsters."

Diana blushed at the assumption. "I am ok with this plan."

Bruce spoke up then. "I am as well."

"Good, then I suggest you go next weekend. The weather will be clear for flight." Felicity suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Clark spoke up then. "Ok, with that out of the way, I have something dangerous to ask of you and Felicity, Chloe."

They looked up expectantly. "I need one of you to look into Lionel Luthor's activity, and the other into Lex Luthor's activity. We need to know what they are doing and when. I know it's dangerous, but maybe you can do a little more digging with your new hacking skills."

Chloe shivered slightly. " I know it's been bad before, but at least now I have rich friends to help me out when they attempt to ruin me, so I'm in." She grinned slightly.

"And I'm just glad to be of use. Victor can help us too. We may need some information straight from the source and who better than the man with a built in system to hack it directly." Felicity suggested.

"I can do that." Victor smiled.

"Now the last thing we need to think about is where to put the prisoner. I can't keep her locked up in my room all the time." Zatanna added quietly.

Clark opened his mouth to speak right when the door to the cafe flew open. "I think I can handle that Zatanna."

They all turned to look at the man who had walked in. He was an African American man wearing a detective's uniform. He stood tall in the midst of the confused youngsters.

Rosy popped up behind them giving them a thumbs up before slipping out the door again.

Something about the man seemed familiar to him. "And you are?"

The man smiled. "I am J'onn J'onzz. I was close friend with your father, Kal-EL. Jor-El asked me to watch over you when you came to Earth. I felt as if you needed some assistance. I will take care of Ravager for you." He smiled, looking around at the astonished group of teens.

"Would any of you perchance have some of those delicious Oreo cookies?"


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: I am sooooooo sorry I haven't updated in a while! I feel like a terrible author -_- I had this chapter pretty much planned out forever ago and had it half-way typed forever ago but I never actually got it finished and written... I've been super busy taking summer math courses... ugh... *sigh* Lois would yell at me for being lazy... Anyway thanks you guys for all the follows favorites and reviews! Y'all guys are really awesome!**

* * *

Chapter 17: How to Get a Kryptonian Sick

J'onn J'onzz had been an excellent help to the group. He worked behind the scenes in the police force to help the kids when they happened to stop crime while wondering around. He also handled mind wiping anyone who got a little too close to the group's secret. Not that anyone had really gotten close except Slade and his crew yet. In addition to all that, he made sure to clean the group out of oreo cookies on a regular basis. Apparently they were a favorite of his.

Felicity had gotten to looking at the actual qualifications to become a real club. She thought it was a good idea to become official in order to keep their cover secure. She then informed the group that the only requirement they didn't meet was having an academic supervisor for the group.

Lois had immediately suggested Shayera or Carter Hall. Clark was volunteered to go and inform them since everyone had unanimously named him "president" (something he was not appreciative of). After many minutes arguing and whining he gave in when Lois told him he had " absolutely no choice in the matter."

And that brings us to Clark, wondering around aimlessly in the geology section of the archeology archives.

There was every type of mineral known to man there. It actually amazed him just how vast their collection was. Clark stepped cautiously, weaving through the cases, hoping that he wouldn't accidentally knock one over.

After a few more display cases, he found himself next to a lab table. Apparently, someone had been doing an experiment on the minerals. There were quite a few vials on the table and a Bunsen burner that appeared to have been on not too long ago.

Clark looked around, trying to find the scientist working. Even with his enhanced senses, he found no one. Shaking off his feeling of caution, he moved past the lab table.

He stumbled as he reached the lab table, causing the vials to break and splash on him. He groaned, suddenly feeling light-headed. It felt like there was kryptonite, but not a lot. Just enough to weaken him. He gasped as a burning sensation started on his arm. His vision started to blur and right as he was on the edge of darkness he heard a shout. Before he could answer, he fainted.

* * *

Clark woke up and was laying on a couch in an unknown office. The bright white walls seemed to cause his eyes to scream in pain. He sat up, wincing as his head exploded, spotting his vision with black.

After a second, Clark was able to focus on the face sitting behind the desk in front of him. The man had a sharp, almost boxy face framed by short brown hair. His eyes seemed full of knowledge, yet they were not reassuring to Clark. They seemed to have an edge of hardness and coldness not commonly found in the living.

"I see you are finally awake." The man said raising his brow. Clark bit back a groan as he nodded slowly. "It would seem as if you bumped into my lab table and spilt my experiment over you. Thank goodness I found you or you could have died." The man frowned.

"Thank you, and sorry. I'm not usually so clumsy." If fact, he never tripped, ever. But from what he could tell there had been trace amounts of kryptonite in that substance which probably caused him to trip and is probably the reason why he now felt sick. "What exactly were you experimenting with?"

The man paused, but only for a second. "I was seeing the effects of a certain type of meteor rock on certain strains of viruses. Thank goodness the vial that broke on you had was dead." He smiled. "By the way, what exactly were you doing back in the archives, Clark Kent?"

At Clark's questioning look, the man said, "I checked your Id as I took you too my office."

"Oh, well I was looking for Shayera and Carter Hall. In fact I should probably go now, thank you for your help, and sorry again." Clark stood up to leave.

The man stood up as well, shaking Clark's hand goodbye.

"Oh, I almost forgot. What's your name?"

"It's Milton Fine. Feel free to look me up any time." Brainiac watched as Clark left. "Oh and have fun with that virus." He added to no one in particular.

* * *

Clark's head was still pounding as he reached the Egyptian artifacts. He quickly looked around the cases, taking in the story on the hieroglyphs. On a few of the tablets, he noticed Kryptonian symbols. Most of them were faded beyond human recognition, but Clark noticed them none the less.

A long row of tablets written about the sun god Ra had such script on the bottom of them. Clark leaned in closer, observing the story of two lovers who were doomed by a curse to live infinite lives where they would fall in love only to lose each other again. Since it was written in Kryptonian, a Kryptonian must have known the couple.

"Hem." Someone cleared their throat behind Clark, causing him to jump. He turned around slowly, coming face to face with a smirking man.

He was a medium sized man with brown hair and a stubble on his chin. "What are you doing there, boy scout?" He smirked larger at Clark's discomfort.

"Umm... I'm looking for Carter or Shayera Hall?" His statement came out as a question.

Carter frowned just a little. "And why would you be looking for me?" He crossed his arms, reevaluating the teen in front of him. He didn't recognize him from class or anywhere for that matter.

Clark sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness. I thought it would take longer than that." He grinned sheepishly at the professor.

As Carter was about to ask for Clark's name, his wife came around the corner. She stopped at the sight of Clark before breaking out into a broad smile.

"Oh! The second visitor back here in one week! Aren't we lucky! Why don't you come sit in the back with us and we can talk." She didn't leave any room for either male to contest her order. She ushered them quickly to the back.

They all sat around on the couches in the back corner, Clark looking severely out of place. Shayera smiled excitedly as she leaned toward him across the coffee table.

"So, what brings you to our section of the archives?" Shayera bounced in excitement, hoping for an exciting answer. Carter huffed, causing his wife to wave him off.

"Oh, I was here to ask if y'all would consider being the academic advisors for our club." He grinned sheepishly at the couple.

Shayera's lighted blinded Clark just a little. "Really? Oh honey, doesn't that sound like fun!"

"Yeah, about as fun as sticking my hand in a mouse-trap." He muttered.

Shayera hadn't heard him but continued to gush in excitement.

Carter interrupted her. "Wait, why us? And what the heck is this 'club'?" Shayera stopped, waiting impatiently for Clark's answer.

"Well, we call ourselves the JLA Club. We are a group of teens that are a little different from most. These differences have banded us together, and we want to be make a difference in this world with our- uh- skills. Lois was the one to suggest that you two be our academic advisors. She really seemed to take a shine to you."

Shayera's eyes widened as she looked back over Clark. "Oh! So you're the lucky man! Oh, did my story work? Did she get the guts to move forward?"

Clark smiled shyly. "We're together if that's what you mean. And what story?"

Shayera grinned, "Oh, it's just the old story of two lovers. You see they were defenders of their country until during the war they were cursed. They were doomed to fall in love with each other lifetime after lifetime, only to lose each other in death again. Their love lives on throughout the ages as they continue to live life after life."

Clark's eyes widened at the tale. That was Chay-Ara and Khufu from the legend he had _just_ been reading! If they know that story then there's one of two possibilities. It's a spoken urban legend passed on throughout generations or they are the two lovers from the story.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "It sounds like a lovely story about the adversity of love. Is that what you used to convince Lois to give me a chance?"

Carter huffed. "It's not a story." He muttered at what he thought was an inaudible volume. Clark smiled inwardly at provoking the answer he needed.

Shayera just nodded excitedly. "Oh yes! She seemed ready to take on her 'impossible love'! I don't know what she was talking about though... You must be super smart or something with the way se was talking about your 'huge destiny that she can never compete with'."

"Well, I may not have been around as long as you, but I am glad you convinced her to stay. I'm not sure what my life would be like without her in it to keep me grounded." He chuckled.

Carter looked warily at the boy, unsure of what Clark was insinuating with his specific wording. He reached for his wife, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, they do make life worth living."

"No matter how many times you have to lose it." Clark amended.

Shayera's eyes widened in shock. "Umm, you know that story is just an old urban legend right?"

Clark grinned, having caught them in his trap. "And with that comment, I am now sure. You're the two that the story on the stone tablets speak about. That's why they are all ordered so precisely in the display case!" He smirked triumphantly at them.

Carter looked taken aback. "You can read those symbols?"

_Oops... _ Clark thought. "Umm... yeah. They are kind of like my species' dominant language?" He smiled sheepishly, having been too caught up in his triumph to realize he had given himself away too. At least Lois seemed to like and trust them, so he would too.

"Oh, so you are Kryptonian! Just like the one who hid the stone within the tombs! He met us and wrote our story in Kryptonian on the tablets as a sign of friendship. If any Kryptonian should discover the story and then us, they would know it was true and would view us as a friend." Shayera explained.

"Well that is the reason I figured out it was you too. Anyway, what do you say about my proposition? Will you be the Academic Advisor for our club?"

"By club you mean a group of teenagers that have strange gifts and back stories like you and us? Yeah sounds like fun to babysit y'all all day." Carter smirked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shayera wacked her husband at his rudeness.

"Well, it is just a cover. We thought becoming an official club would help us blend in better in the university. After a group of freaks in the same club is less suspicious that a group of freaks."

Shayera smiled kindly. "We would love to help y'all out. After all, there's not much that we get to do that's exciting in the archives." Carter grunted in agreement after the stern look in his wife's eyes.

"Great!" and with that Clark explained where the cafe was and when the first official club meeting was set to be.

Clark left them feeling satisfied by his work at bringing even more friends together. However not too far from the building his eyes started blurring over. In his temporary moment of blindness he ran straight into a tree, leaving a Clark shaped dent in the tree. Clark collapsed onto the ground then, the sound of Victor running up to him in astonishment the last sound before he found peace in the darkness.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: So to make up to you with the long wait for the last chapter, I went ahead and got this chapter ready for y'all. Also I am working on a one-shot for Lois and Clark. It's almost done so when I post it, I'll put it in an author's note. Anyway, onto the JLA Club! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 18: Sick Days

Victor was having a normal day. Nothing really unusual going on. Of course that should have been a clear sign for him something weird was going to happen... But no, he was very blissful.

A.C. had gone home for the weekend early. Something about an emergency in Atlantis? Oh well he didn't care as long as he had a break from A.C. and all of his water. There really hadn't been any noise either. Felicity and Chloe had been working on learning a new computer language so they had been hitting the books. He knew all the computer languages, but it was a little hard to explain considering they were just kinda built into him.

So he spent the peaceful day walking to class and just relishing in the quietness of it all. As he was walking back from lab, though, he spotted Clark.

Clark had been out doing his "presidential duties" for the club. Better Clark than him. Victor sped up a little so he would be able to catch up and talk with him. Yet right as he was about to call out, Clark ran into a tree! That's when Victor knew something was wrong. Clark doesn't run into trees. He has reflexes faster than the human eye can blink, so it's not possible for him to just run into a tree no matter how preoccupied he is.

Furthermore Clark was now lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. Even if he hit the tree, that wouldn't happen.

And last but not least, there was a distinct Clark shaped dent now in the tree. If Clark really hadn't been paying attention, he would have completely knocked down the tree, leaving a dent so big you never would have attached it to a human sized being.

Victor ran up quickly and noticed Clark's pale complexion and ragged breathing. He shook him, trying to wake the unconscious Kryptonian... No luck. With a sigh he pulled out his phone and called Chloe.

"Hey, whats up?" She greeted.

"Um this really isn't my forte so I was wondering if Clark collapses do we take him to the doctor? I mean... would they even know what to do?"

"Wait, what! Clark doesn't collapse!" She exclaimed.

Victor flinched away from the phone. "Well he did after leaving a distinct Clark shaped hole in the tree."

She laughed. "Now that's funny... Ok, take a picture of the tree and send it to all of us... Then work on getting the Clarkness out of the dent so it looks like someone ran over it with some kinda vehicle instead of bumping into it with his face... Omg this is like a once and a lifetime opportunity for blackmail." She tried to stifle her snickers to no avail.

"What about the unconscious Kryptonian?"

"Oh... bring him back to the dorm. I'll ask Oliver and Bruce if they have a doctor they can trust absolutely with secrecy like this. I'll let Lois know, too. She'll want to help him."

"So your saying I have to carry him back to the dorm by myself!"

"Oh come on! I know that's not hard for you."

"Yeah, but it's annoying... Fine. I'll get there as soon as possible. I just hope I don't run into anyone."

"Good", and with that she hung up.

Victor sighed and headed towards the tree. He took a picture of the dent, unable to hold back a snicker. It looked like Clark had been yawning because you would see the giant gap in the tree where his mouth was open. It also looked like his eyes were closed as well. After he finished recording the moment, he went to work smoothing out the dent to make it not look like Clark.

It didn't take very long but there was now a pile of wood under the tree. He scattered a little bit of it so it wouldn't be too obvious what had happened. Then he picked up Clark and headed behind the buildings to the dorms.

Thankfully no one noticed him carrying a body (that would have been awkward to explain). When he got back to Clark's dorm room Lois walked up.

"Victor! Is he ok?" She said, huffing from running.

"I think he has a major fever and he is still unconscious... Also I think his strength has been depleted, after all he only put a dent in the tree."

Lois put her hand on Clark's forehead, wincing at the high temperature there. "Well let's get him in bed." She reached into his pocket and pulled out his dorm keys.

"Why didn't you just knock?" He asked as she worked the key.

"You didn't want to wait on Oliver did you? Or do you just want to keep carry Clark all over the place? I'm trying speed this up." She explained as she opened the door...

To Oliver and Chloe making out. Yeah you heard me right. Truth is they had been secretly dating since the night after the party. They just hadn't told anyone so that they could see where it was going.

"I so called that one! I told Clark they were seeing each other! And he told me it wasn't like that... No wonder Rosy kept avoiding that topic." Lois exclaimed jumping up and down in excitement.

Oliver and Chloe broke apart, staring wide-eyed at the people now in the room. "You could have knocked." Oliver said as Chloe blushed a deep shade of red.

"Who cares? Let's just get boy scout to bed! He's not as light as he looks ya know..." Victor said grumpily. He walked over to Clark's bed and unceremoniously tossed him down.

"Hey!" Lois smacked him in the back of the head.

"What was that for? It's not like it'll hurt him... he's indestructible!" Victor whined.

"Don't make me smack you again. He's sick! We have to take care of him, not make it worse by throwing him around!" She punched him harder this time when he rolled his eyes.

"Ouch! Sheesh, she-devil." he muttered.

She smacked him again before heading to Clark's drawers.

"Ok sometimes I think you may be more like Clark than you let on... Are you sure you're not an alien?" Lois sent him a warning look. "Ok, I'll back off. Sorry." He relented.

Lois pulled out a rag and handed it to Victor. "Will you head to the bathroom and wet this rag for his forehead?" He nodded and left.

Lois turned on the couple in the corner who had just realized it was just them and Lois. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as they cowered a little. "So did you at least see if your lip lock partner had a doctor before initiating the sucking of the face?" She kept a straight face, leaving them with no hope that she was joking.

"Yes." Chloe squeaked.

"Oh come on Lois, I got this! I have a doctor that helped me out after I got back from the island. He helped my with some old wounds. He never even asked where they came from and assured me if I ever did, he wouldn't tell a soul. He's been our family friend forever. He does some medical research now, but he's always been there for my family. If you want I can even let you meet him before he sees Clark so you can approve him."

"Good boy, I'll accept that. Make an appointment immediately. I want to see him as soon as possible. In the meantime I need Tylenol and Ibuprofen. I don't know if they'll do much for Clark, but we gotta try."

They went to work on trying to make Clark feel better. They tried to wake him, but he remained unconscious. After trying for five straight minutes they decided to let him sleep and when he woke up to give him his medicine.

* * *

"Dr. Emil Hamilton, correct?" Lois looked at the doctor suspiciously.

He was a man in his mid 30s with short curly hair and rectangular black glasses. From Lois's first impression (and those were usually right) this man was trustworthy.

He smiled to Lois, holding out his hand. "Yes I am. Ms. Lane I presume? I hear your the girlfriend of the patient."

"Yes, I'm just wanted to meet you first so that I could know I can trust you. First off, who are you working for right now."

"I'm working in research for Queen industries. I also work as a doctor for Metropolis General at times when I am needed." He answered immediately.

He gave Lois the impression of being very straightforward. "Ok, you have treated Oliver's old wounds. Have you ever told anyone about these wounds or any thoughts about how he received them. And I mean you didn't even tell his family."

"Yes, I have told no one, just as he wished. He is a friend of mine so I would never betray that trust."

Lois saw he wasn't lying so she smiled. "Ok, I believe you. I'll trust you. Here's a warning though. What you are about to see is not normal. The patient isn't exactly from around here. You aren't to tell anyone or try to submit him to science, ok? I'm trusting you because I have to, but I will have you know that I can and will find and punish you if you betray us." Her eyes clearly showed her seriousness in the matter.

Emil caught onto the direness of the situation with that one ultimatum. He replied with the same seriousness. "Of course Ms. Lane."

"Oh and one more thing, call me Lois."

"Yes Lois, and please call me Emil."

* * *

Emil took blood from Clark to try and find some way to figure out what was causing his sickness. He asked if Clark had ever displayed any sort of sickness before. Chloe had piped up then explaining about the time he had gotten sick from meteor rock dust. She then went on to explain how green kryptonite effected Clark. He figured that he was probably exposed to green kryptonite so that his immune system would be lowered and then had caught the virus or bacteria.

What they couldn't figure out is why he wasn't better yet. Usually the sun fixed him right up. That's when Emil hypothesized it was in his blood system. He promised to return soon with the results of Clark's blood test.

Lois was left to take care of Clark as the rest left to tell the others the news. She made sure the rag on his forehead was cold and got a glass of water ready for when he woke up.

As she started to doze off, she heard Clark move. She sat up straight, staring excitedly at her boyfriend.

Clark's eyes blinked slowly as they started to come back into focus. When he woke he realized he was in his room. He sat up quickly then before groaning from the dizziness the movement had caused.

"Woah, not so fast Clark... You're sick." Lois said as she eased him back down on the bed.

"What? Oh, yeah right... I'm not sick very often." He smiled at her sheepishly.

"Do you remember how this could have happened?"

Clark paused, drudging up the memories from earlier that day. "Umm... maybe when I was with Professor Fine. I ran into a lab table and something with Kryptonite burned my skin. I was knocked out and when I woke up I had a headache. I collapsed after I hit something."

Lois snickered at that, pulling out her phone. "Yeah, it was a tree." She grinned, showing him the picture of his wood replica.

"Crap." He said shaking his head. "That's embarrassing. Did someone go fix it?"

"Yeah, Victor did. He's the one that found you and carried you back. Are you feeling better now at least?"

"Yeah, I am Lois. I'm still dizzy and lightheaded, but it's not as bad as it was." He smiled. Then he paused, scrunching up his nose. "Lois I think I need to sneeze."

"Well get it over with! Not like there's much a sneeze can do!" She laughed. Clark was cute when he was sick because he just seemed so clueless.

Clark breathed in as the sneeze started...

Bart burst into the room through the wall then. "Dude I heard you were sick."

ACHOOOOOOO! Clark sneezed, effectively destroying his room and shredding both Lois's and Bart's clothes.

"AHHHHHHHH!" They all screamed pointing at each other as Bart and Lois both tried to cover up.

Clark's eyes were wide at what had just happened. "Umm... Guys? Are sneezes supposed to do that?"


	19. Extra Chapter Friday the Thirteenth

**AN: For those of you that are expecting a chapter full of Clark learning how to not destroy things by sneezing and him getting better... Sorry!**

**Clark: Seriously... I mean Seriously... you're leaving me hanging right now! I'm sick!**

**Instead, I'm posting a special for FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH. Yeah I woke up, looked at my phone and went, awesome! **

**Zatanna: Oh, I love this day too! Are you allowing me to wreck havok?**

**Yes Zatanna... I am...**

**Clark: Wait, what about me?**

**I'll get back to you later! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this extra chapter.**

* * *

Extra chapter - Friday the thirteenth

Lois woke up that morning feeling a little different from usual.

First off, she didn't have a hangover. Lois knew it was a school night last night, but she couldn't resist drinking the poor college frat boys under the table... again. It was a good source of income. She had gone three rounds last night. In fact the last thing she does remember is Clark putting her to bed last night. She had insisted on attacking him as he attempted to put her to bed before passing out in his arms.

She should at least have a minor hangover, but nothing. Zilch. Nada. In fact it she felt like she could drink all day and nothing would happen.

She sat up, looking around her room. Uh Oh... she was in Clark's room again. He was nowhere to be seen though. Instead Oliver was spread out across the bed covers, snoring loudly. That was a strange sight to say the least. He was always so refined, even when sleeping. Maybe that's something to do with being rich.

She looked around for her phone, but all she saw was Clark's. Oh well, she can at least get the time... And take a picture. She reached out for the phone. That's when she noticed her hands. They looked like Clark's.

Panicking, she threw back the covers frantically. She had washboard abs and was wearing boxers! She got up and ran to the mirror- to see Clark staring back at her. "AH!" She yelled, off put by her now low voice.

Oliver woke with a start, rolling off of his bed. Lois turned to look at him. He was rubbing his head slowly as he sat in a heap on the floor. He looked up at her before starting in surprise.

"Clark, What are you doing here? Did I sleep run again through your wall?"

"What are you talking about Ollie... This is Clark's room! Why wouldn't he be in it!"

"Umm... Clark? Why did you call me Ollie... Wait why did you say Ollie? Is Lois rubbing off on you again? Last time that happened..."

"We do NOT speak of that time Ollie... And you know that!"

"Stop calling me Ollie Clark! I'm Bart... B.a.r.t. Bart."

Then it clicked. The awkward sleeping position, the snoring, the falling out of bed, and the "sleep run" comment... He had switched with Oliver! "Oh, you too? I'm not really Clark, I'm Lois!"

Bart looked up. "That would make so much more sense. And what do you mean 'you too'?"

Lois gestured towards the mirror. Bart got up and looked at the mirror skeptically. He took in the blond hair, the scarred skin, and the _stubbled chin_. "Wicked! I have stubble! And not just baby stubble." He started dancing wildly.

"I see you are not as bummed as I am.

"I'm gonna go find myself and tell Oliver! Then he'll be so mad!" He started running towards the wall before, BAM. He crumpled onto the floor in shock. Then his eyes widened and his mouth fell open until "Nooooooo! I demand to be switched back! My super speed!" He sat there pouting.

Lois had a glint in her eye. She glanced around the room before WHOOSH. She had dressed Clark in his signature jeans and t-shirt combination. "Yes! I've always wanted to try that!" She jumped up and accidentally hit the ceiling, causing a large section to fall down. "Oops."

Bart looked ready to cry. "Stop showing off!" He pouted.

"Well if it makes you feel better, at least you just changed bodies of the same gender and species. I am in the opposite gender AND he's an alien."

"You think that way cuz you got powers." He pouted.

Lois towered over him. "You got a problem with me, punk?" She shot him her signature, think wisely for your answer or I just might kill you look.

Bart's eyes widened exponentially. "Ok, You are ten times scarier when you're in Clark's body."

Lois smirked. "Good. Now get your butt up off the floor and lets go look for everyone else."

"Yes sir, I mean ma'am. Argh! I don't know!"

* * *

Victor woke thinking, "Crap... I'm having a hard time breathing." He sat up and noticed he was on the wrong side of the room.

He looked over at his bed confused. That's when he saw someone starting to stir. The person sat up to reveal: himself.

"What the heck?" He looked down and noticed a major flaw. He was fishstick. The orange tank and green shorts (an atrocious wardrobe malfunction according to Lois) was a dead giveaway.

"Victor" sat up, blinking rapidly in confusion. Then he laid eyes on Victor and "What the heck? Who cloned me!"

"Look at yourself idiot." I spat.

A.C. looked down and noticed the dark brown skin. Clue number one. Then he noticed the giant plug in his arm. Clue number two. Finally he looked at his clothes and noticed the glaring absence of green and orange. Clue number three. He looked up in a panic. "What the heck! I'm metal brain!"

"And Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Victor said getting up. He went to his closet and changed into his usual clothes. Jeans and a dark purple t-shirt.

A.C. did the same, though he was giving Victor a weird look. He put on his favorite orange tee and green shorts. Yeah, he really didn't have much variety.

"Hey, why does my throat feel so dry A.C.?" Victor asked.

"You need water dude! And why am I getting all these weird number in my head?"

"That would be the computer I was working on talking to you. You can stop that by unplugging the USB that's wirelessly connected to it." He said as he headed towards A.C.'s stash of water.

A.C. did what he was told and then stood there waiting on Victor. "Let's go find the others."

"Yeah." And they went out to find someone who could fix this.

* * *

Clark woke up with a HUGE migraine. He hadn't felt this bad since he was sick, or maybe that time with the blue kryptonite. He groaned, stretching a bit. That's when he noticed something was hugely wrong. He had a high pitched voice that sounded suspiciously like Lois's. On top of that, his chest felt way heavier than it should be.

He sat up quickly, causing his brain to whirl. "Ok, so no fast movements." With that sentence and a quick look at the plaid shirt he was wearing as a nightgown and it was official, he was Lois. It was good that he did not have his heat vision right now because it would have been going off.

Speaking of heat vision, that's probably the reason why he was feeling so bad. His powers hadn't transferred, but he did get to inherit her hangover. He knew she had drank too much.

Clark looked around Lois's room, trying to find something to help his hangover. That's when he saw Diana. Sleeping in just her underwear.

He quickly looked away, a blush covering his cheeks. "Lois is gonna kill me!" He thought. "Well she will probably kill me if I continue to let her wear this plaid shirt. She always pretends she hates my plaid, so she will probably not like the fact I woke up in her body sleeping in it... Plus right now she actually has the ability to kill me and everyone else."

With that thought my motivation, I got up to look into her closet. I grabbed her blue tank and a pair of jeans. Hopefully he could at least pass as Lois until he could find her, himself, whatever!

Diana woke up then, stretching. She sat up looking around and noticed Lois. "Lois... What are you doing in my room?"

Clark turned then, giving Diana a confused look. "Um... This is my room."

Diana opened her eyes wider, taking a look at the room. "Holy crap! This is not my room!"

Clark looked at her curiously. "So that would mean you are not Diana?"

"Um, Duh! I'm Dinah. Why would you think I'm?" She looked down then, noticing the fact that that was not her body, not her underwear, and her tattoos were missing. On top of all that, her hair felt ten times heavier.

"I'm princess... I'm the freakin' princess! Lois, we tell no one of this."

Clark, not ready to let Dinah know that he was Clark and seeing her in her underwear simply said, "Agreed."

Dinah got up then, searching in her closet for some clothes. "Seriously? How did this happen! I guess I know why I had to wake up and strip again in the middle of the night. I told myself I had gone to bed without clothes on! I should have known something was up then! Man, Princess has no interesting clothes. You'd think with armor like that she would have a better casual wardrobe. But I guess it's all business with her. I mean even her underwear is armor!"

After disappearing deeper into the closet she came out with a simple pair of jeans and a red tank top. "This is the closest thing to something I would wear..." she muttered before disappearing into the bathroom.

Right about then there was a loud "BANG!" on the door. Clark flinched at the sound before cautiously opening the door. Remembering he was Lois he said, "What do you want?" giving off his best impression of her _I'm annoyed and hungover, make this quick_, look.

"Dinah" was standing on the other side of the door. She looked worse for the wear and had also put on the closest thing in Dinah's closet she would wear. Jeans and a T-shirt that looked like it had seen better days.

At the sight of Lois acting like Lois she let out sigh. "Ok Lois, you're not going to believe me, but I'm-"

"Diana?" Clark guessed, keeping the air of indifference.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Dinah's changing in the bathroom now. Both of you are so loud." He muttered, letting her in. He really needed to get out of here before he slipped up.

"You have no idea how it feels to wake up in someone else's body."

"Try me." Clark thought, rolling his eyes.

That was apparently the wrong move as she plunged into the events of the morning.

_Flashback_

She woke up to a very dark room. Weird. Her room was usually light. Then she remembered that Lois had gone out drinking last night. Oh, makes sense. Clark probably shut the curtains so it wouldn't be as painful when she woke up.

Diana sat up then looking around the room. First thing she noticed was this was not her room. She could clearly see the leather hanging out of the dresser and what looked like a long metal staff sitting discreetly in the corner by a bookshelf. So, she was in some strange room... Why?

Next thing she noticed was the fact that she wasn't wearing anything but her underwear... Which wasn't even her underwear! She wore sophisticated armor, not, whatever this was! She wasn't even sure if it counted as underwear!

The person in the other bed in the room moved then as a blonde headed girl sat up. "Why are you already wake Dinah? Just go back to sleep, sheesh! Don't you know what it's like to have a freaking hangover?" She whined in a very high pitched voice.

Diana jumped into action. She grabbed the staff from the corner of the room and cornered the girl, forcing her down onto the bed with her foot. Her eyes flashed with anger at the sight of the stranger. She stood on the bed above her, pinning her chest down with her foot as she held the staff to the girl's throat.

"Who are you and why am I here?" She spat.

The girl flinched at the authoritative tone in Diana's voice. "I'm your roommate, Riley. And you are in your room, where you sleep." She glared at the girl above her.

Diana looked at her. "Who exactly do you believe I am?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "You're Dinah Lance."

Diana let her go out of shock. Riley quickly used tat instant to get up and run out of the room yelling "freak."

Diana rushed to the mirror she spotted in the corner. She stared at the blonde in the mirror. "I was correct. I somehow have transferred bodies with... Dinah." She flinched at her own admission.

Turning towards the closets she opened the first one to reveal- girly cheerleader/sorority clothes. Definitely not Dinah's closet. Moving to the next one she sighed in relief at the dark clothes and leather. Digging into the depths she pulled out Dinah's ragged old t-shirt and a pair of dark washed jeans. It was the modest thing she could find.

Then, thinking logically, she headed towards her room, hoping to find Dinah in her body.

_Flashback End_

"And that's why I'm here." Diana finished.

"You attacked my roommate Princess?" Dinah appeared from the bathroom, attempting to pull a brush through all of Diana's hair.

"It was self defense!" She huffed in return. They started bickering with each other like usual.

Clark's head was really hurting him, but he didn't want to be rude. Wait a minute. He was Lois! He could be rude!

"SHUT IT! Both of you!" He said, glaring indignantly at them.

They stared at him, wide-eyed. He chuckled inwardly at them. It was nice to be on this side of the Lois glare. No wonder she did it so often, it wielded great results.

"I have a feeling Zatanna had something to do with this, so let's go find her." He suggested.

"Ok."

* * *

Lois was still waiting for Bart to get ready. He almost left the dorm in just his boxers! He didn't mind cuz he was Oliver at the moment, but seriously! Now he was attempting to find something that wasn't green in Ollie's closet. Ha, good luck with that.

I looked in the mirror again, admiring Clark's body. Technically it wouldn't be bad if she took off his shirt, right? I mean they never were somewhere romantic when he got too... And technically she was his girlfriend. This started all kinds of thoughts about Clark and his body and-

The mirror caught on fire. And the wall. And some of the curtain. Lois shrieked at the sudden combustion.

Bart peeped out of the bathroom before grinning. "You were thinking naughty thoughts about boy scout weren't you." He smirked.

"No, what? I mean-"

"Don't even try that one with me. Clark explained how his heat vision worked that time he set the club on fire when you went undercover as a stripper. That means if it wasn't on purpose, you were thinking dirty thoughts." He grinned.

"No! I mean. maybe, wait-"

Lois heard a hard knock at the door and, after sighing in relief at the interruption, went to open it. Yet as she got close to it, it burst open.

"I'll just pay for that later... They just so freaking slow!" Came a tough gravelly voice.

The dust cleared to reveal - Bruce.

Yes Bruce. You were expecting Bart weren't you...

Anyway he came marching in all high and mighty, glaring at Lois and Bart. "Where is that stupid old bat head!" He yelled.

"Umm... I have no clue what you're talking about." Lois replied.

"Oh give it up boy scout! If I'm stuck in the stupid bat's body that means he's in mine! Or are you too dense to figure out that Oliver isn't exactly Oliver!" He yelled.

Lois bristled at that. She stood up straighter, utilizing Clark's full height. "For you information, I did notice you stupid ungrateful idiot. I should have let him run around in your lucky charm boxers!" She spat, standing right in his face.

Oliver cowered. "Umm did you switch-"

"WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THAT INCIDENT!" She yelled at Oliver.

"And I'll take that as a yes." He muttered. Then he yelped as Lois sent him through the wall with her punch.

"Oh crap... I forgot about the super strength..." Lois said, hurrying to pick Oliver up off the floor.

Oliver was covered in rubble and as she picked him up all he could was "Ow".

"Score!" Bart yelled, revealing himself.

Oliver saw him, or himself or whatever, and glared. "That's not bat brain is it..." He groaned.

"Nope! I'm Bart! And the Clark you managed to anger is Lois!" He smiled.

Oliver's eyes widened as he looked back at Lois. "Oh my word! I am sooooooo sorry Lois! I had no idea it was you! I just thought... you know! It's not my fault!" He pleaded. After all, a deadly Lois with Clark's abilities is ten times scarier than normal.

Bart piped up then. "Uh, Lois? The rooms still burning."

"Crap! How is it that Smallville puts out fire again?" She started wracking her brain.

"Superbreath maybe?" Oliver suggested.

"Oh, right. Thanks Oliver." She turned around and took a deep breath. Then she let it all go. Oliver and Bart both started at the aftermath. Good news, the fire was out. Bad news, So was half the room and anything that was left was covered in ice.

"Nice one!" Bart quipped.

"Oh shut it, pea brain."

* * *

Felicity and Chloe were having a similar morning, just without all the drama. They woke up, figured out they were in each other's bodies, and spent the rest of the time experimenting with each other's clothes.

They had already figured out either this was Zatanna's fault, or Zatanna could fix it. When Chloe finally noticed the date, it all clicked. "Felicity? This was definitely Zatanna, today's Friday the thirteenth. Let's get ready so we can find everyone else. If we were effected, that means the rest probably were too."

They rushed to Zatanna's room only to find that she wasn't there. Instead, Lois, Dinah, and Diana were interrogating her roommate. The poor girl looked scared out of her wits.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know where she is! She left sometime this morning cackling evilly." She cried. Dinah glared dangerously at the girl, her eyes serious and unmoving. Diana was opening and closing a knife as she looked threateningly at the girl, smiling wildly. Lois was standing a little ways off, clutching her head and glaring at the group as if they were a huge cause of pain. Well considering she had been partying last night, they probably were.

"Let me guess, Dinah and Diana got switched." Chloe said walking up to the group.

"Oh Felicity!" They said, allowing the girl just enough time to escape back into her room.

"Wrong, I'm Felicity. And she's Chloe. We got switched too." Felicity smiled.

"Y'all don't seem as mad and freaked out as we are." said Dinah.

"Well they have very similar personalities and assets." Diana said. Dinah nodded in agreement.

"Ok, now that that's settled, can we please go looking for Zatanna now?" Clark suggested.

Chloe looked at him suspiciously. She looked like Lois and was doing a really good impersonation of Lois, but was she really Lois? Something felt just slightly off. She stared a little longer before chalking it up to Lois's hangover.

They headed towards the boys dorm just in time to see the window of Clark's room burst.

"Crap." Clark said before hurrying towards his dorm with the girls hot on his heels.

They arrived on the scene at the same time A.C. and Victor showed up. They looked wrong wearing the opposite clothing form their usual styles. Victor just looked awful in orange and green.

They found Lois and Bart defiantly yelling at each other as Oliver watched on in relief. It was relief that Lois was no longer attacking him.

Clark just stared in horror at his destroyed room. When he finally got over the shock, the yelling started to get to him. Everyone started to yell at each other, blaming each other for their misfortune. Victor and A.C. were going at it again and somehow the topic of sleep stripping had come up with Diana and Dinah. His head buzzed as they grew louder and louder until-

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Even Lois froze at this. "I am tired of everyone arguing and freaking out all day. It's simple! All we freaking have to do is find Zatanna, but no. We have to fight and argue about every little detail and freak out every time we see something out of whack! Seriously, this kind of stuff happens to us all the time! We are friends. Let's just get this over with and laugh at it later! And would you please keep the volume down! This is like my first hangover ever and I don't appreciate the noise." He finished, steam rising off his head.

Lois came up to him and hugged him. "Sorry for the hangover and thanks for taking care of me last night." She whispered.

"Anytime Lois. But I have to ask, what happened to my room?"

"Umm... I may have set my heat vision off... and then used the arctic breath to put it out."

He glanced up at her (That felt really weird). "Were you thinking dirty thoughts about me in my own body?" He smirked.

She blushed at that, running a hand through Clark's hair. Bart opened his mouth to give his two scents, but was silenced with a glare from both Clark and Lois.

"Wait, if Oliver is in Bruce's body and Bart's in Oliver's body. Where is Bruce?" Lois wondered.

"I'm right here." Bruce walked out from behind Victor, standing stoically among them, his signature scowl on Bart's face.

Everyone erupted with laughter. "Oh, that's a precious sight! Bat boy in Bart's body! He looks so serious! I can't believe this!" Oliver looked just as hilarious rolling around on the floor in Bruce's body, causing even more laughter to spread through the group.

"Shut up arrow head." Bruce scowled deeper. He was missing the usual authority he had in his own, more intimidating body.

Everyone's laughter died down revealing the soft bell like laughter from Zatanna.

They all whirled around on her. "I see y'all are enjoying my Friday the Thirteenth gift!" She smiled.

"No!" They all yelled in unison.

"Sheesh, touchy feelly I see."

"What spell did you put on us, Zatanna." Bruce demanded.

"You look funny as Bart, Bruce. Anyway, I just had a little body switch spell up my sleeve. I wanted to give y'all your own version of Freaky Friday! You were to switch bodies with whoever in our group you were hanging out with at midnight! Clark put Lois to bed then, Diana and Dinah were training together. A.C. and Victor were in their dorm room together as were Felicity and Chloe. And finally, Bart, Oliver, and Bruce were playing video games against each other." She smiled excitedly.

They all sweat dropped at her excitement. "Ok, I think you've had enough fun now Zatanna. Why don't you switch us back?" Lois asked sweetly, attempting to use Clark's puppy dog eyes power. It was not very successful...

"Oh no no no! You have all day in each other's bodies! That's how the spell works! It'll be reversed at midnight." She smiled.

Lois looked ready to kill her. At Zatanna's smirk she charged across the group, grabbing at her neck- but Zatanna was gone. One lone tarot card fell to the floor in her place saying **Have Fun Guys!**

"Wait! This means I have to deal with Lois's hangover!" And the fighting began anew.

Let's just say it was a long day...


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Sorry for the wait guys... I had some huge tests to attend to and have finally found the time to write! Ok, so this is the official chapter 19... but thanks to fanfiction the extra chapter was technically chapter 19... so in order for me to not be confused (cuz that's very easy...) chapter 19 never existed nor shall it ever exist... instead we are going straight to chapter 20. So enjoy!**

* * *

Last time on the JLA Club:

_Bart burst into the room through the wall then. "Dude I heard you were sick."_

_ACHOOOOOOO! Clark sneezed, effectively destroying his room and shredding both Lois's and Bart's clothes._

_"AHHHHHHHH!" They all screamed pointing at each other as Bart and Lois both tried to cover up._

_Clark's eyes were wide at what had just happened. "Umm... Guys? Are sneezes supposed to do that?"_

* * *

Chapter 20: Better Days

So Clark's "spontaneous" cold caused him to gain the amazing power of super sneezing! No seriously... If Clark forgot to cover his mouth when he sneezed (which happened often) he would cause a whirlwind to come and destroy his room. Sometimes he would only half cover his mouth, resulting in the upturning of papers, but no major destruction.

Oliver had given up trying to fix the room until Clark got better (he had the window reinstalled for it to be immediately blown out 2 minutes after the construction crew left).

Lois took care of Clark all the time she wasn't in class, though she always ducked when she heard a sneeze about to come from him. She had learned her lesson after the first accidental strip down.

Bart refused to go anywhere near Clark while he was sick. According to him it was because Clark was no fun when he was sick. Rosy said it was really cause he was traumatized from being the butt of the getting his clothes stripped joke a few too many times.

Dr. Emil had deemed that Clark's blood system was cleared of the green kryptonite (which is why he had regained consciousness), but his immune system was having to reboot itself. Apparently the virus that had taken advantage of the Krytonian's weakness had almost completely destroyed it and was continuing to do so at an accelerated rate. Even with Clark's Kryptonian healing factor, he was having problems rebuilding his immune system enough to fight the virus. Dr. Emil estimated 4 days for Clark's healing factor to beat the virus and completely exterminate it.

Oliver and Bruce had brought him books to read while he was sick. Oliver brought all adventure novels and Bruce brought mystery novels. They were subtly trying to have a competition of which books he would like better. Sensing a potential fight, Clark read them both equally and then said that he liked both genres. Of course Bruce and Oliver dissected his reviews to try and find which person had won and in the end had a brawl that was ended when Clark "accidentally" sneezed on them.

Today is day 4 of Clark's sickness, and he was feeling a lot better. He woke up at about noon and decided he had spent enough time laying down, so he headed to the training ground. They had set up shop in a remote warehouse with state of the art security provided by WayneTech (much to Oliver's chagrin). Inside they had training stations specifically designed for each of their members. They also had sparing stations so they could brush up on their hand to hand combat skills.

Clark went to the back and found Dinah's sparring dummies. Then he set them up in the firing range at varying distances. He looked down the range, trying to brace himself for what he was about to attempt. Hopefully he would succeed and wouldn't destroy the entire range.

He focused, taking a deep breath. When he was satisfied his lungs were full he pointed towards the first dummy and released his breath. A force of air blasted down range, completely shredding the dummy he was aiming at into undistinguishable pieces. It had enough force to shake the walls and cause the lights to flicker as well.

Clark grinned, excited that his first attempt to control his power led to relative success. He worked the rest of the afternoon on varying power and accuracy until he was satisfied with his progress and made his way back to the dorms.

* * *

Victor was having a great week. A.C. hadn't returned, Bart had been too busy moping to really bother him, and he had managed to decrypt all of the files he had found on the biomechanic enhancements Luthorcorp had created. He was going through them now, analyzing all of the hardware they had added to him and brainstorming ways to improve it.

Of course, being Victor, this had to come to an end. He stopped his thoughts at the sound of a key turning in his door. Fishstick was back. Sighing in frustration, Victor whacked his head on the wall behind him.

The door opened to show A.C. and... some red-headed chick? What the heck was going on.

She was medium height with sharp green eyes and wild red hair. She giggled at something A.C. said before turning her gaze onto Victor. She sized him up for a second before scoffing.

Victor was mad at her obvious dis. He stood up and walked toward the pair.

"Hey! Tin man, how's it going? You miss me?" A.C. taunted.

Victor smirked. "Yeah, like snowman misses the sauna, fishstick."

"Wanna fight, huh?"

"Yeah, I'd love to kick your-"

"Excuse me, but Orin would definitely win in a fight." The chick butted in.

Victor's eyes widened. "Orin?"

"Yeah, that's me..." A.C. rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Who's the red head?" Victor asked.

"Oh! I'm Mera, Orin's fiance!" She replied, extending a hand to shake.

Victor accepted, "I'm Victor, A.C.'s roommate."

"Yeah, well Mera has decided that she is also coming to Metropolis University to study! Isn't she great?" A.C. explained excitedly.

"Uh-huh... It's just peachy." Victor replied. The only thing he could think was "Great, now I have to deal with two water dwellers... Maybe I should ask Bruce about waterproofing my systems. Or Oliver. Great, now I'm gonna start another argument between the billionaire idiots. This is just not my day."

While he had been thinking, A.C. and Mera had forgotten his existence, leaving Victor an uncomfortable audience to their flirting... "Nope, not my day at all..."

* * *

Oliver, Bruce, Dinah, and Diana had headed out today to go to Russia. They were looking for information on the triad's movements. Thankfully, they hadn't been attacked again this week. The enemy was apparently regrouping and gathering more intelligence.

Right before takeoff, Oliver and Bruce got a message from Clark saying he had worked on his new ability and somewhat mastered it. Dinah got a message apologizing for decimating her sparring dummy supply. After a few minutes of tearful silence, Oliver promised to get her better sparring dummies when they returned. This led to Bruce offering his own dummies that were 'superior' to Oliver's. They continued to argue until-

"SILENCE!" Diana roared, no longer amused by their antics.

They spent the rest of the flight in silence, valuing their lives over their rivalry.

When they got to Russia, they made sure to stay on the back streets. They stuck out like, well uh... Americans in the middle of Russia. In order to blend in a little better they had worn darker, more worn clothes.

As they walked, Oliver kept his eyes out for the tell tale signs of the Russian Mafia. His source back in Starling City had told him that they had moved their head quarters. As the group neared an old warehouse, Oliver saw a group of four men, standing around having a very serious conversation. He recognized the tattoo on one of the men's arm. Grinning, he motioned to the rest of his group to follow his lead.

He headed straight for the group, holding his head high. One of the men spotted Oliver, motioning the other men to quiet as he approached.

"Eh, what do you Americans want?" One of them said in broken English.

"Just to know where the headquarters of Bravata have moved to." Oliver smirked.

The men immediately took out weapons, preparing themselves for a fight. Dinah, Diana and Bruce also tensed, sensing the coming conflict.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Oliver warned. Ignoring him, one of the men lunged at him with his brass knuckles gleaming in the light.

Oliver stood still, keeping his head high. Right before the man punched him, Dinah used her staff to intercept him. Oliver kept his face calm even though Dinah had just messed with his plan. He wanted them to hit him.

The other men attacked as well, though not a single one of them got through thanks to Diana and Bruce stopping their advances as well. Bruce held off two at once as Diana fought a man twice her size. Oliver was silently fuming. Didn't he tell them before they got here not to do anything rash before making sure it was ok with him! Now they were messing with his plan.

As he was trying to come up with a new strategy to make sure they would do whatever needed, he heard the sound of Dinah being hit across the face. He turned to catch sight of her bleeding cheek.

"STOP!" Oliver yelled in Russian, now allowing his anger to permeate in a dense cloud around him. Everyone, including Bruce, froze.

Continuing on in Russian, Oliver said, "You dare to hit a woman! And on top of that a woman who is being escorted by a captain? Do you not know your place!"

The men froze at his words, "You cannot be-" One of them attempted to protest.

Oliver took off his shirt, showing off the mark of the Bravata on his chest.

The men immediately backed off. "We are very sorry sir!" They apologized, frightened for the punishment they could receive from such a high ranking officer.

"Good. Now where has the headquarters moved to. I know that Anatoly moved them, but I was not informed where."

"Ah, he has moved to the night club in downtown. He is using it as a cover for now. Enforcement almost caught us at our last location, so we had to relocate. It will be a little harder to get into though. The club is quite popular." One of the men warned.

"I can take care of that. Thank you for your assistance. And just so we're clear, don't think you can get away with such mutiny a second time." Oliver warned, sending them a warning glare.

The men disappeared into the streets, more than happy to escape the demon like captain.

Bruce popped up behind Oliver, scrutinizing him. "It would seem that I underestimated you. You hold a much higher role in the mafia than I had first anticipated."

Oliver glared at him. "Yes, well I have my connections. You guys are the stupid ones that ruined my plan! I had to improvise!"

"I see. So you planned to use your rank to threaten the men into submission after they struck you?" Diana questioned. Oliver nodded.

"You were actually thinking. Impressive." Bruce muttered, causing Oliver to send him a dark glare.

Dinah sighed. "Shoulda told me that, I would have let you get hit and saved myself a lot of trouble."

"Oh well, it's too late now. We should get going though, Anatoly will want to catch up when we find him."

"Wait, Anatoly? He's your connection to the mafia?" Dinah questioned.

Oliver grinned. "Yup. I helped him off the island and he helped me learn Russian."

"And apparently convinced you to join the mafia." Bruce added.

"Like you're one to talk Mr. I was part of the league of assassins."

"We should be on our way." Diana suggested, trying to get the group back on track.

"Oh yeah, how are we going to get in without blowing who we are?" Dinah asked.

"Easy. You two are getting us in! Why do you think I agreed to allow you and Diana to come! I mean you were the first one to suggest her feminine charms." Oliver winked.

"EH! I was just kidding!" Dinah exclaimed.

She and Diana continued to protest as they headed out towards the club.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Impromptu Plan

Oliver was truly considering just telling the guard who he was to get in. Of course that would blow Anatoli's surprise and could potentially give the triad or even the league of assassins knowledge of him and his background. Guess he really didn't have any other choice but to make do with the resources he had at hand: two extremely attractive women.

He wasn't worried about them getting in or about Dinah or Diana getting hurt, they would take care of themselves. He was worried what the said two women would do to _him_ if anyone made a move on them.

Thankfully Oliver and Bruce had remembered to make the two wear a more formal attire. That's also why they wore trench coats over their clothes to attract less attention.

"Well, now I know why they made us wear these outfits... This was their plan from the beginning..." Diana muttered.

"You really do pout like a little kid." Bruce pointed out. She blushed at that, holding her head high in defiance.

"I just figured since Anatoly enjoyed clubs, there was a high possibility he would be in one. And like Dinah said earlier, your feminine charms are likely to get us in this club." He grinned, seriously hoping he wasn't going to die for this plan. Good thing Lois wasn't there.

Their arguing quieted as they reached the club.

The bouncer looked them up and down as they approached. Dinah took the lead. "Think you can let us in?" she asked, batting her eyes.

The bouncer's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized them. Dinah let her trench coat open to reveal just enough of her attire to give him ideas. At Oliver's subtle prodding, Diana did the same, looking away from the bouncer's curious eyes.

He grunted, letting the group through. Oliver grinned at the girls, "Success!" They just glared in return.

The group dropped off their coats in the front and headed into the club.

Bruce had been to a lot of clubs, so he could immediately sense the difference between this one and his usual joints. Everywhere he looked he could feel his paranoia pricking. He felt watched. A quick glance around the room revealed multiple guards around the dance floor. This wasn't typically strange, but Bruce felt as if something was off.

Leaving Oliver with the girls, Bruce weaved his way to the shadows. He melted into the darkness, using it as a cloak as he made his way towards one of the guards.

The guard appeared to be a very hardened and rigid man, worn by the struggles of life. He wore his suit with dignity, but something about his stance also screamed of uncomfortableness. It was almost as if the suit and environment were not natural to the man. He had a scar on his face that spread from his eyebrow to his hairline. In the ear closest to Bruce there was a earring with the design of the Russian mafia, just like Oliver's tattoo.

"Bingo." Bruce thought. They really must have just moved to this club if the guard was so uncomfortable.

Taking notes of the tale tell signs, Bruce moved around the room to observe the other guards. The one's on the first guards sides were all the same: stoic and uncomfortable.

On the other side of the room were the regular guards who looked at ease in their environment. They were the seasoned guards.

With this information in hand, he returned to his group.

Bruce found them near the bar. Oliver was speaking to a woman at the bar. He seemed to be in deep conversation, but as Bruce neared Oliver thanked her and turned away, leaving a very disappointed lady behind.

Dinah was talking to the bartender, using her outfit to get him to speak fluidly with her. Her long red dress with a plunging neckline killed the poor man's self control. She also noticed Bruce's return, but made sure to pick up her drink as a thanks to the very compliant man.

Diana was warding off the hordes of men hitting on her. When she realized Bruce had slunk off to inspect the guards, she had found a spot in the club that let her observe the entire space clearly. Unfortunately it was also a hotspot for single men looking to pick up girls. While she had gotten some good information on the layout of the room, she also gained a large crowd of desperate men. Her blue backless dress did not help matters and only encouraged their courting. She stood tall and aloof, turning down each men politely.

As Bruce returned, he realized that she was dangerously close to actually snapping and just hurling the men from her sight. They didn't accept her polite words and continued to press her for attention. Chuckling a bit he decided to help her out.

He stood up straight, putting his signature scowl on his face. He strategically moved behind the group, wrapping his arms around Diana's waist as he approached from behind. He felt her stiffen and so whispered, "It's just me Diana. Play along."

"Hey baby, did ya miss me?" He said, kissing her on the cheek. Unbeknownst to him she blushed a deep shade of red.

Taking a second to get over her shock she managed. "Yes I did."

"Loosen up," he whispered in her ear, making her blush more.

"What is it Sweety?" She tried. This was becoming increasingly hard for her with the stares the other men were giving them.

Bruce grinned into her hair, she had set him up perfectly without even realizing it. "Oh nothing. I'm just ticked at the guys looking at my woman like a piece of meat." He sent them his signature angry scowl.

They could all feel the anger radiating off of him in waves. The only thing the men could think was "Crap, he's going to kill us!" With that thought their motivation, they ran for the hills.

Bruce let go of Diana with a sigh of relief. Then he grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the other two as Diana's face competed with Dinah's dress for the deepest red. Oliver and Dinah watched them approach, a snicker on their faces.

"I should have known when you two disappeared." Oliver started, earning him a glare from Diana.

"Oh! The Princess get's the billionaire! Such a cliché." Dinah jested. Diana changed her glare to her. Dinah shrugged it off, but stashed this new development away to tell Lois later.

"Anyway, let's go somewhere more private to talk." Bruce suggested before just walking away to a remote corner.

Dinah went first. "Ok, so I did some digging with the bartender. (oh shut up Oliver... I saw you with that old lady.) Anyway, it turns out that the club was recently bought out by a wealthy patron. He wanted to keep everything about it the same, but reserved the rights to hire and fire employees as he saw fit. He got rid of all the bad bouncers and guards and replaced them with his own men. It turns out everyone enjoyed the overhaul and the club has been busier than ever. The new guards actually started today, so they should be easy to distinguish from the rest."

Oliver nodded. "Yes, that's what Ms. Renau was saying. She's a frequent customer here and knows the ins and outs of the club. She is enjoying the new management, though she is missing some of the perks she had with the old management. She said that the old owner often had parties in the backrooms of the club for VIP members and they would have gambling as well. But the new management is probably renovating or something because no one is allowed back there. She does notice a few people going back there every once and a while, but they all looked 'uncivilized' to her."

They all laughed at that understatement.

"Well, that fits in with my observations about the room. Most of the stiff on the east side of the building are kitchens and storage closets near the bar. The north side of the building just has bathrooms. The south is the main entrance and the coat room and the west seems to have multiple rooms." Diana informed them.

"And you got all that before the male mob?" Oliver smirked. That one earned him a smack on the shoulder that left him rubbing his arm.

"That all ties into my observations of the guards. The ones on the east seem to be experienced where as the ones on the west are new and obviously uncomfortable. This makes sense since it is their first day. They must be guarding the back rooms where the new headquarters for the mafia are being set up." Bruce concluded.

"Which means now it's my turn." Oliver grinned. Then he took a deep breath, smoothing out his face. He headed towards guard from earlier.

The guard stiffened at the approach of the group. He kept his face calm as he asked, "How may I help you?"

Oliver dipped his head in a semi bow, "Thank you. I would like you to give a message to your boss. Tell him the American survivor is here." He smiled to the guard, leaving the man with no other option but to call another guard over so he could deliver the question.

He returned in a bit and bowed as he let the group through. "Thank you."

The guard bowed. "It is a pleasure to help, Lieutenant."

"Wish I could get that kind of respect..." Bruce muttered.

"Jealous of my mafia connections now batboy?"

"Wha-? No way greenbean. And I'm still richer."

"Whatever you tell yourself so you can sleep at night." Oliver smirked.

The door in the main club had lead to a hallway that lead to another door. When the group opened the second door, they found a dark study like room. Half of the room was an obvious base of operations for a mafia. They had their territory marked on maps with projections of finances and battle plans as well as the mafia rules so that they would be reminded to never break them, lest they die.

The other side of the room was an office like space. There sitting behind the desk was a middle-aged man. He had short brown hair and a scruffy beard. He was surrounded by a few buff guards. He looked up when the door opened to see Oliver.

"Oliver!" He exclaimed, immediately jumping up to embrace his friend. His bodyguards moved warily. He noticed and turned to them. "Eh! Calm down. It's just Oliver! He's one of my lieutenants, plus he saved my life. Just go! I'll be fine! enjoy yourselves." He waved them off quickly before ushering the group inside.

"I see you're as excitable as always." Oliver grinned. "It's good to see you again my friend."

Anatoli smiled happily. "And who are your guests? Friends I presume? Is one of these lucky ladies-?"

"Oh no!" Dinah exclaimed.

Anatoli looked at her closely. Then his eyes widened in recognition. "Dinah! I haven't seen you in forever! I mean I thought you were dead! As did this poor bloke here. You look wonderful in that dress. Much better than the rags you had to wear on that island." He exclaimed, embracing her.

"Yeah, it's a long story. It's good to see that you're a lot happier, though your sense of humor is the same as always."

Oliver interrupted then. "This is Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince. They are friends of mine from college."

"Ah, Mr. Wayne. Your prestige and title reach us even here in Russia. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"And the same to you." Bruce shook his hand in greeting.

"And you are the beautiful Diana Prince. You look absolutely stunning in that dress. It is so great to meet you." Anatoli said, taking her hand and kissing it in greeting.

"Thank you," she said, standing tall and proud before him.

He laughed. "Just like your last name suggests, you act like royalty."

Oliver interrupted then, "Anatoli, I'm afraid that there are some things that we would like to discuss with you."

They all took a seat as Anatoli asked, "And what type of things do you need to discuss?"

"Just information about a few groups and their movements. Slade Willson is alive and after me. However, I know about his movements after we captured one of his men. From her we found out that China White and the triad are also after us. Do you have any information on their plans and movements?"

"Also, do you have any information about the League of Assassins. I have a feeling that they might be asked to assist in the fight against us as well." Bruce added.

Anatoli whistled. "Wow, that's a long list of people after your blood. Just what kind of group is your people?"

Oliver grinned. "Let's just say we're a little different from your average Joe."


End file.
